Chapter 33: Your Young Lady is Going to d*e!
As Luxianbei and her group were moving from the third level to the upper level, deep within Nowhere Land, at Dream Come True Entertainment City.
The sky was profound, and the earth was pale. In this world that seemed to be reduced to black and white, a clear, mirror-like small lake lay embedded like a sapphire on the pale sand dunes.
At the edge of the lake, grayish-white stones were carved into various complex and ornate shapes, inlaid with huge gears, threaded columns, and indistinguishable incomplete metallic structures.
Clusters of blooming flowers, magnificent manor houses, armored warriors, and ferocious demons surrounded the lake, almost like a series of Ukiyo-e paintings encompassing diverse artistic styles from different eras.
A man dressed in a black tailcoat stood by the lakeside, wearing a pale mask that outlined his facial features with black lines. At first glance, the exquisitely simple visage looked like a smiling face, but the slightly downturned corners of his mouth seemed to harbor a sadness.
“When will such trials finally come to an end?” the man murmured to himself.
It sounded like aimless soliloquy, or perhaps a question posed to some mysterious existence.
After waiting for a long time without a response, the man slowly removed the white glove from his left hand, revealing a horrifying palm.
The dry skin clung tightly to slightly deformed bones, and dark red skin was covered with hideous scars and burn marks.
As the five fingers lightly rubbed, the fragile skin immediately split open, and bl**d poured out like molten iron, falling into the bottomless lake.
The clear lake water rippled, and in an instant, a high-pitched scream erupted from the depths of the lake, as the water churned violently, resembling boiling liquid.
Amidst the sounds of the scream and the crashing water, bizarre shadows rose from the lake’s bottom, swiftly transforming into fish-like outlines.
Those fish, resembling ink wash paintings, swam rapidly in the water, their outlines constantly collapsing and reshaping, gradually evolving into splendid colors.
Colorful koi, tropical fish, reminder of fat flatfish, goldfish bumping with ball-like structures, and ferocious great white sharks…
Various kinds of fish, resembling phantoms, filled the lake half-real and half-illusionary, shimmering as they chased the man’s seemingly unquenchable bl**d, swirling in a violent struggle.
Small fish continued to explode, their bodies transforming into coin-sized glowing fragments that merged into the bodies of other fish.
The man focused on one particularly large fish, its scales as white as jade, with ribbon-like fins reminiscent of a fairy’s, narrowing his eyes slightly.
He observed as the giant fish charged through the school, tearing apart many smaller fish along its path.
As coin-like glowing fragments continually entered its body, it grew larger and larger, navigating through the fish like a prehistoric behemoth.
Suddenly, that white fish leaped out of the lake, splashing glistening droplets in the air before crashing down heavily, smashing into another red and black striped fish, and with splattered coin fragments, it became one of the largest in the pond.
“Wow, impressive…” the man chuckled softly upon seeing this, muttering to himself, “Looks like I will soon be able to meet Jiang Li again.”
“I wonder if she can end my suffering this time?”
“Really something to look forward to!”
As he spoke, the man suddenly noticed a strange fish that resembled a sturgeon but had magnificent red and gold banded patterns on its sides.
The sturgeon, also known as the Chinese swordfish, is one of the most ferocious freshwater fish, yet this strange fish showed no signs of aggression.
Unlike the other fish rushing for the man’s bl**d, it swam slowly and aimlessly at the lake’s edge, like it had some sort of mental deficiency.
Just as the man was wondering why it was acting this way, a school of small fish swam past, and it suddenly sprang into action, like a bolt of lightning, swallowing all the small fish in one gulp, instantly growing several sizes and then sinking back down.
“…” After a brief silence, the man chuckled lightly, “Heh, seems like we’ve got quite a catch here!”
————
Meanwhile, on the upper level of the entertainment city, in a private room.
A being adorned with mottled demon tattoos and a double-faced appearance stared coldly at the silver-haired girl sitting opposite, a look of ice in its eyes.
“Little girl, don’t think you can bluff me just because you’ve won many times lately! I never fold until the end.”
As it spoke, a strong spirit energy fluctuation suddenly emanated from within.
“I call, I want to see your cards!”
With that, the being pushed its chips to the center of the table and flipped its hole cards aggressively.
One heart Ace, one heart Jack, and the community cards included hearts Queen, 10, and 7, making a flush—quite a strong hand in Texas Hold’em.
On the other side of the table, Jiang Li, with her spirit patterns fully unveiled and silver hair gently swaying behind her, held a pair of cards with a pair of vividly bright blue flames flickering in her eyes.
She gazed at the being across from her and slowly lifted her long arm without counting the chips, just tilting her chin slightly and revealing a confident demeanor as she flipped over her hole cards.
“Sorry, I’ll be taking your chips.”
Heart 9, heart 8…
Her hole cards formed a smaller straight flush with the community cards, beating the being’s simple flush and winning the pot.
“Impossible! You must be cheating! Trying to pull a fast one in front of me is courting d*ath!”
The being roared, suddenly twisting its neck with a sickening crack, revealing a fierce visage.
In an instant, a massive shadow loomed behind it, rising like a figure from hell, with a countenance resembling that of a Buddha, covered in golden and red grooves, and huge arms waving, scattering burning ashes.
At last, the entire room fell into eerie darkness, every corner consumed by the ubiquitous heat of the flames.
Surrounded by this terrifying vision, the being felt like a king descending upon the earth, exuding an authority that made others unable to look directly at it.
The black-clad guards standing around the room were shaken by this presence, their movements slowed for a moment. By the time they regained their composure and tried to stop the being, Jiang Li had already moved first.
She leaped from her chair, seemingly weightless, landing lightly on the gambling table.
Her long legs wrapped in silver armor stepped over the disordered chips, and her figure darted forward like a flash of lightning.
Then, with a flash of silver, she raised a long kn*fe glimmering with a bluish hue over her shoulder, pressing it against the being’s neck, piercing the skin and drawing a few drops of black bl**d.
Then…
The toxin from the Hydra was released, causing the being to convulse a few times before crashing to the ground with a loud noise.
At that moment, the black-clad guards surged forward, subduing the being.
The lead guard approached Jiang Li and bowed slightly, “Miss, we apologize for the fright you experienced, we…”
Jiang Li waved her hand, interrupting the lead guard, “It’s alright, I’m used to hunting urban legends; it cannot hurt me.”
“Rather than apologize to me, why don’t you help me out and call over two bunny girls to help me count the chips? I think, after winning this round, I should be back among the top three.”
The lead guard paused, bowed again, and said, “Thank you for your generosity, I will fetch them for you right away.”
With that, he hurried out of the room.
Watching the lead guard leave, Jiang Li finally jumped down from the table, leisurely walking to the corner restroom, entered, and locked the door.
As soon as she locked the restroom, her body suddenly trembled violently as if struck by electricity, her strength seemingly drained away; her legs went weak as she leaned against the wall, slowly sinking to the ground.
“Ha—ha—!”
Her vision blurred, as she gasped for air, trying to draw as much into her lungs as possible.
After the intense discomfort subsided a little, she shakily pulled out a test tube-like vial from her pocket, removed the stopper, and poured the mercury-like liquid into her thin lips.
After swallowing the potion, she stood up slowly, using the sink for support, and watched her face in the mirror regain color as she sighed silently.
“…”
I knew it would be like this…
The fifteen days spoken of by the big boss should actually be less than that, Jiang Li thought.
This doesn’t mean the big boss deceived her, but rather that his fifteen days referred to a healthy adult human’s timeline.
However, during this period, using spirit energy would significantly shorten that time.
Yet, winning at the upper level without using spiritual energy was impossible.
Calculated as such, these fifteen days were practically only about a week’s worth of time.
Fortunately, she had already won enough chips to rank in the top three in less than four days, leaving her nearly enough time to gamble with the big boss once more.
With her thoughts collected, Jiang Li turned on the faucet, splashed her face with cool water, carefully dried it with tissues, and left the restroom with her head held high.
Before entering Nowhere Land to gamble with the big boss, there was still one troublesome thing she needed to do according to the entertainment city’s rules.
“Creeeak—!”
As she pushed the door open, two attractive bunny girls in golden attire immediately approached her.
“Miss Ah Li, everything downstairs is ready, you can ring the bell now,” said one of the bunny girls.
The other bunny girl held out a well-crafted pinkish-white gown, presenting it to Jiang Li, “Miss Ah Li, this is a dress we’re giving you as a gift this time. Should I take you to change into it now?”
“Mm.” Jiang Li nodded slightly, “Thank you.”
Noticing the expectant look in the bunny girl’s eyes, she frowned slightly and added, “After ringing the bell, this dress will be yours.”
Upon hearing this, the bunny girl hesitated briefly, then joyfully exclaimed, “Uh… ah? Thank you, Miss Ah Li, thank you!”
Dream Come True Entertainment City was indeed quite rich; almost every time a guest won enough chips to ring the bell, they would receive a beautifully made dress as a gift.
In her previous visits, Jiang Li had always given the dresses she received to the bunny girls who served her.
After all, she didn’t know when she might enter Nowhere Land again and never return. Keeping such items could be a waste.
Though these dresses seemed trivial compared to the chips she held, their value was still enough to drive the bunny girls crazy.
However…
Jiang Li looked at the thrilled bunny girl in front of her, along with her well-endowed figure, and rolled her eyes.
This dress would probably need significant alterations to fit her properly.
————
“What the hell? What the hell!?”
Standing in front of the grand lobby on the upper level, surrounded by golden decorations and ostentatious luxury, Luxianbei gasped three times in amazement.
“Is it really that surprising?” Ahua glanced at Luxianbei, smirking, “Isn’t the decoration style here similar to downstairs?”
“And didn’t you claim to be a student of the College of Arts and Literature? How come you’re only exclaiming like this?”
Luxianbei turned her head to roll her eyes at Ahua, “What do you know? The decor downstairs is all tacky red and purple with gold; it makes me feel ill…”
Ahua looked around, bewildered, “Isn’t it the same here?”
“No, it’s completely different!” Luxianbei declared seriously. “The difference is the downstairs uses gilding, paint, and glass; here, it’s real gold, mineral pigments, and natural gems—it’s even more gaudy.”
“Then why do you…”
“But great vulgarity is great elegance! This place is absolutely refined!” Luxianbei said earnestly, reaching out to touch the pure gold mermaid statue just as a chime echoed from the grand lobby ahead.
“Dong—dong—dong—!”
The bell tone, resembling a dragon’s roar, suddenly rang, shaking the soul.
Luxianbei’s outstretched hand “swished!” and retracted.
“I didn’t mean it, I wasn’t planning to take a piece home. I just wanted to study it academically!”
Liu Banxian, “…”
Is this girl really the same one who almost caused trouble for all the spirit ability users and urban legends downstairs? Why does she seem so embarrassing?
Ahua, “…” The overly confident Wang Buliu has logged off, and the cowardly Luxianbei is back online, huh?
As she thought about it, Ahua patted Luxianbei on the shoulder and said annoyedly, “Wang Buliu, that bell means someone has won enough chips to qualify for a gamble with the big boss.”
“A celebration should be held soon.”
“Hey? Isn’t it a theft alarm?” Luxianbei patted her chest, standing erect, “Why didn’t you say that earlier? You scared me to d*ath.”
“By the way, you just mentioned a celebration? What’s that about?”
“Hehe.” Liu Banxian replied with a laugh, “It’s just as it sounds; tonight, a big shot is footing the bill. Drinks are flowing, food is plentiful, and there will be beauties… Ahem, you’ll find out when you go in.”
“Oh, I see…” Luxianbei nodded thoughtfully and began walking toward the lobby, casually plucking a piece of emerald scale from the mermaid’s tail as she passed by.
As soon as she entered the lobby, Luxianbei immediately noticed the stark contrasts between the upper level and the middle and lower levels.
A pitch-black vortex hovered beneath the thirty-meter-high ceiling, with a narrow white spiral staircase leading directly into the black vortex, quite conspicuous.
“Is that the passage to Nowhere Land?” Luxianbei asked, pointing at the white spiral staircase.
Seeing her palm still showing the emerald scale, Liu Banxian’s mouth twitched slightly as he replied, “Yes, that’s the place. They say the big boss is right up there.”
“Can I go up and take a look?” Luxianbei pressed.
“How could you just go up there?” Liu Banxian pat her shoulder, “Cousin, don’t think about it. Only guests ranked in the top three in chips qualify to gamble with the big boss.”
“Right!” Luxianbei nodded seriously, “They said only the top three can gamble with the big boss, but nothing about not being able to go up and take a look if I don’t have enough chips?”
“I just want to take a look; I won’t be gambling with him, so I shouldn’t need to be among the top three, right?”
“This…” Liu Banxian was momentarily at a loss for words, and after a long silence, muttered, “I’ve never heard of anyone doing that; no one has tried it, probably for a reason.”
“…” Luxianbei remained silent, squinting at the white spiral staircase, deep in thought.
At the same time, a girl dressed in a pinkish-white gown with her silver hair neatly styled up walked onto the stage in the center of the lobby, standing beside the demon possessing charm abilities.
“I didn’t expect it to be Miss Ah Li again this time…”
Upon hearing the words “Miss Ah Li,” Luxianbei and Ahua’s pupils both contracted, exchanging glances before almost simultaneously tiptoeing to peer over the crowd toward the stage, where they spotted Jiang Li’s familiar face.
“That’s right, it’s our young lady!” Ahua exclaimed.
Luxianbei, “…”
As Liu Banxian, who had joined in tiptoeing to see the stage, heard this, he was momentarily taken aback and asked, “You really know this Miss Ah Li?”
“Yeah! Didn’t we tell you before?” Ahua replied.
“Tsk tsk, if that’s the case, you should hurry and persuade her. Although I don’t know what she’s planning next, but looking at her expression…”
Liu Banxian paused mid-sentence, then continued, “There’s a saying, ‘a person with all the knowledge cannot satisfy their hunger; someone with all the skills cannot reach their ambition, and always striving for the highest ideals but being out of luck and anxious…'”
“What does that mean?” Ahua asked Liu Banxian inquisitively.
“It probably means, no matter what she does, she just can’t seem to achieve her goals.” Luxianbei interjected, “Banxian, am I right?”
“That’s about the gist of it, but…” Liu Banxian frowned, looking at Ahua, “Your young lady is in serious trouble; if this continues, she’ll only last another four or five days!”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei felt as if her heart had been gripped harshly by an invisible hand, tightening abruptly and leaving her stunned in place, completely oblivious to the fact that Liu Banxian had already been chased away by Ahua…
