***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Selkae for the donation! ^^
***
Ruan Qing, having held onto the tiles that Su Zhen needed to win, had a messy hand, with several unknown tiles on the side.
It seemed that Su Zhen’s victory was already a foregone conclusion.
The players and gamblers watching shook their heads repeatedly at Ruan Qing’s tiles, believing that a miracle was impossible.
Half of the mahjong game had already been played, and Ruan Qing’s hand was still as disorganized as if he had just drawn his tiles.
Moreover, the young man was missing too many tiles; he was at least three tiles short of the most likely winning combination.
It was just a futile struggle.
Fortunately, the stakes for this round weren’t high, just a kiss.
A gambler, thinking of this, couldn’t help but let his gaze fall on the young man’s lightly pursed, thin lips.
The young man’s lips were beautifully shaped, and because he was pressing them together, they had a seductive color, looking as if they were tempting someone to kiss them.
The gambler’s throat moved slightly, inexplicably becoming nervous.
However, the next second, seeing Su Zhen’s half-smiling gaze, the gambler immediately lowered his head in fear.
But it was too late; a black thread had already pierced through his heart, emitting a terrifying aura.
The gambler’s eyes widened suddenly, staring stiffly at his chest, losing his breath in an instant, and then fell straight to the ground.
The black thread was very thin, almost invisible in the light, so no one saw this scene.
Moreover, there was no blood on the gambler’s chest, nor was there any damage to his clothes, as if he had suddenly died of a heart attack.
At the Life and Death Casino, gamblers died every day, some during the game, some at the pawnshop, and even sudden deaths were not uncommon.
So the gamblers thought he had just died suddenly and didn’t find it surprising, nor did they pay any attention.
Only a staff member not far away glanced coldly at Su Zhen, and immediately brought people to handle the gambler’s body.
The mahjong game continued, but the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
The eyes of the players and gamblers were filled with regret.
The young man’s luck was too bad. His chances of winning were already slim, and to make matters worse, he kept getting useless tiles for several rounds.
It seemed even the gods hadn’t favored him in the slightest, not giving him a shred of a winning possibility.
Moreover, the young man was probably unfamiliar with mahjong. He wasn’t as skilled as he had been in the previous game, often discarding tiles that could have formed good hands in subsequent rounds.
Unfortunately, the tiles had already been discarded.
A hint of helplessness appeared on Ruan Qing’s delicate face, and he even felt a bit of regret and annoyance.
He felt he shouldn’t have played that tile just now.
At this moment, Ruan Qing was no different from the other gamblers. It was his turn to draw a tile again.
As Ruan Qing picked up a tile and hesitated about whether to discard it, he heard a clear and youthful voice, filled with amusement, by his ear.
“Brother, you’re really good at pretending.”
“Obviously about to win, yet you act as if you’re sure to lose.”
Ruan Qing stiffened immediately upon hearing this, almost dropping the tile he was holding.
His heart tightened. Instead of looking at the person who spoke, he first glanced at Su Zhen.
Su Zhen seemed not to have heard the voice, nor did he see anyone beside Ruan Qing.
Not only Su Zhen, but even the other players and gamblers seemed unaware.
They hadn’t heard the voice just now.
After confirming this, Ruan Qing let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief.
Ruan Qing’s reaction seemed to amuse the person beside him, who chuckled and said, “Brother, don’t be nervous. They can’t see me, nor can they hear what I say.”
Ruan Qing had been looking down at his tiles the whole time, but now he lifted his head and looked at Su Zhen, naturally catching Su Zhen’s attention.
Su Zhen looked up in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“Changed your mind?”
Ruan Qing realized he had overreacted. He clenched his pale fingers, his eyelashes fluttering slightly with unease, “...No.”
“Just worried that if I play this tile, you might win.”
Su Zhen chuckled lightly and said generously, “No.”
Su Zhen made no effort to hide his intention of cheating, and this statement also made it clear that he knew what tile Ruan Qing had just drawn.
Although the puppet strings were black, they could also be colorless.
As long as Su Zhen didn’t want it, basically, no one could see the puppet strings.
Nor could they determine that he was cheating.
Su Zhen understood this, and so did Ruan Qing.
The players and staff present also understood this.
Ruan Qing pursed his lips, said nothing more, and played the tile.
The gambling continued, and no one noticed the oddity that had just occurred.
Only then did Ruan Qing truly relax, glancing subtly to his left.
Then Ruan Qing’s gaze froze slightly.
From the sound, Ruan Qing had already recognized the cat-eared young man, but he didn’t expect this person to have changed into a different outfit.
Changed into... a maid outfit.
And not just any maid outfit, but one that didn’t look very proper.
He was even wearing black stockings.
Even without doing anything, it gave an impression of being rather improper.
The maid boy, seeing Ruan Qing looking over, slightly bent his eyes, lifted the hem of his skirt, and elegantly spun around, with a touch of shyness and playfulness.
It was as if a shy girl, wearing what she thought was her best outfit, spun around to show her beloved.
After spinning, the maid boy smiled at Ruan Qing and asked, “Do I look good?”
Ruan Qing: “...”
The maid boy didn’t mind Ruan Qing’s silence. He tilted his head and revealed a bright smile, his eyes seemingly sparkling.
“Brother, do you need special service now?”
Before Ruan Qing could answer, the maid boy continued, “If you don’t need it, I’ll have to ask that big brother over there.”
“However, I can’t guarantee that I won’t say something wrong.”
The maid boy paused for a moment, then slightly lifted his chin, gesturing towards the four tiles Ruang Qing had placed on the gambling table. “For example.”
“Things like ‘Big brother is about to win the game.’”
Although the maid’s voice was still clear and crisp, it was clearly a threat.
Ruang Qing’s delicate white fingers tightened a bit, and his eyes narrowed slightly for an instant.
This person... could count tiles.
He knew what the four tiles in front of him were.
Ruang Qing had thought that the cat-eared young man was not simple. After all, in a Life and Death Casino, even the outfits required gold coins to purchase.
And such unusual clothes that cost gold coins but were impractical were rarely bought by gamblers.
Unless they were lovers of some big-time gambler.
But how could such a person possibly ask others, ‘Do you need special services?’
So after understanding how many gold coins the outfit required, Ruang Qing began to suspect that the cat-eared young man was not simple.
But he didn’t expect him to see that he was about to win.
He indeed was about to win.
Ruang Qing had been plotting ever since Su Zhen appeared. From the beginning, he had been guiding Su Zhen, using the opportunity to make him strictly adhere to the rules of the Life and Death Casino.
He also pretended to be completely incapable of winning to mislead Su Zhen.
ughh i hate that cat eared guy.
ReplyDelete