Chapter 141: The Water Moon Tower’s Threshold

It was already early morning. The dim yellow streetlights cast the outline of drizzling rain, the crescent moon had climbed high into the night sky, and the roads were empty.

But perhaps because she had been rained on, or because she had slept too much earlier, Ye Qing felt no drowsiness at all.

As for Liu Qingruo… she was still buzzing with excitement. At the Magical Girl Academy, she had already adopted a nocturnal schedule, and now was her prime time.

When Ye Qing had been chatting with An Yueying earlier, Liu Qingruo had just crawled out of her den. She didn’t seem groggy at all—in fact, she looked full of anticipation, just like always.

However, her unusual reaction when she encountered Yinjin still bothered Ye Qing.

‘I feel like this simple girl is hiding something from me.’

It didn’t take long to get from the tea party to the Water Moon Tower. Although neither of them knew the way, surprisingly, there were still taxis picking up passengers at this late hour.

However, a barrier had been installed between the driver and passenger seats, seemingly to prevent carjackings.

The driver wasn’t as warm as those in Jinzhou. Generally speaking, experienced drivers who had been on the road long enough would know things ordinary people couldn’t touch.

At first, seeing that his passengers were two young girls, the driver had some thoughts. But when he noticed they were coming from that deadly tea party, he shut up immediately and dared not ask any more questions.

He knew that inside were witches. Those sweet-looking little girls might be ferocious behind the scenes…

Many of his debt-ridden buddies had gone silent after being visited by the tea party. This was a man-eating place.

Hearing that they were headed to the Water Moon Tower, the driver didn’t dare slack off. Since the roads were empty, he floored the accelerator and soon arrived at the tower’s base.

“Thanks, driver! How much?” the red-haired girl said sweetly.

Her tone was completely different from the terrifying image the driver had imagined, which only made him feel a strong sense of dissonance. He felt uneasy all over, and even the iron bars beside him couldn’t provide much safety.

He quickly waved his hand, not daring to ask for money.

“It’s nothing… you two have fun…”

Seeing this, Ye Qing sighed helplessly. She pulled out a fifty-yuan note based on the meter reading, tucked it under the seatbelt, and then took Liu Qingruo to leave.

At times like this, saying more would only frighten him more. Better to let him calm down early.

But this also confirmed one thing: although they had changed the name, the evil organization’s reputation was still terrible.

The only ones not feared were those lecherous guys who liked to hand out benefits.

The area near the Water Moon Tower was a bustling commercial district, still bright and noisy at this hour. But once they approached the tower itself, the crowd thinned out strangely.

Passersby would only glance up at the glass curtain wall lit with bright lights, imagining a scene of celestial palaces, then quickly lower their heads and move on. But in that brief moment, Ye Qing could see envy shining in their eyes.

However, when they circled to the front of the Water Moon Tower, the entrance was strangely quiet. Besides two burly security guards in black suits and sunglasses, almost no one was coming in or going out.

Probably some kind of threshold. But Ye Qing didn’t care about that; she was here to stir up trouble.

So, without hesitation, she walked straight inside. She passed the metal detector at the entrance without being stopped. Perhaps it was due to her abilities.

But unlike Ye Qing, as soon as Liu Qingruo walked in, someone greeted her with a smile.

The person was dressed like an insurance salesperson, with a name badge pinned to her chest. Her makeup was as delicate as a porcelain doll, and her smile was so pleasant it didn’t inspire disgust.

“Hello, would you like an insurance policy?”

Hearing this, Ye Qing choked on her saliva and coughed violently.

‘Seriously? She’s actually selling insurance?’

Liu Qingruo scratched her head in confusion but didn’t refuse outright.

“Why do you need to buy insurance to play here?”

That question almost instantly revealed her background—a newbie who had never been to the Water Moon Tower, the classic “big fat sheep.”

“Well… miss, is this your first time here?”

Liu Qingruo nodded, even more puzzled.

‘What does that have to do with insurance? Do first-timers need protective measures?’

“The upper floors of the Water Moon Tower are casinos. Getting to the higher levels isn’t just a matter of taking the elevator.”

Hearing it was a casino, Ye Qing felt a pang of regret.

‘I should have brought Shaoyao. This dumb girl will probably just throw away money here.’

But Ye Qing wasn’t in the mood to deal with that. She tried to go straight upstairs but was surprised to find that the elevator required a special access card for higher floors.

There should be stairs, but Ye Qing couldn’t find them. That meant unless she could scale the walls, she couldn’t get upstairs even if no one was watching.

Meanwhile, the insurance woman continued her introduction.

“The basic requirement to go upstairs is chips. With chips, you can unlock the elevator. The cheapest chip costs ten thousand yuan and grants access to the second floor.

A second-tier chip is worth ten first-tier chips for the third floor, and so on. To reach the fifth floor, you’d need at least ten million yuan deposited at Water Moon.”

Liu Qingruo was stunned speechless. After a moment, she looked pitiful, on the verge of tears.

“So… to get to the eleventh floor, that would be…”

She had no intention of gambling; she only wanted to go to the eleventh floor for the hypnosis service. And she didn’t even have ten thousand yuan in savings…

On the other side, Ye Qing first tried to “zero-yuan purchase” a few chips from the exchange counter, but she quickly found everything securely locked. Direct theft was impossible.

She felt frustrated too. ‘Such tight security…’

‘Is this specifically to prevent invisible people?’

“Don’t worry. Starting from the sixth floor, it’s no longer a casino. But you’ll need at least a fifth-tier chip to access the services above.”

Even though she could tell Liu Qingruo was a penniless girl with little to squeeze, the woman remained patient. She continued explaining, as if she didn’t care whether they would go upstairs.

“Of course, many guests gamble impulsively and lose everything. Our insurance is designed to prevent exactly that. Whatever amount you deposit here, you can withdraw the same amount when you leave.”

It was indeed a good insurance policy, effectively preventing people from losing everything due to gambling addiction. By saving some money while still calm, they wouldn’t even lose their bus fare home if they lost it all.

“Eh? So you don’t make any money?”

“Correct. It’s just a safeguard to prevent impulsive mistakes.”

Listening quietly from the side, Ye Qing stared at the insurance woman’s smiling face, calculating in her mind.

‘This is what they call “sustainable overfishing.” Once you get hooked on something, it’s hard to quit. The gambler’s mindset isn’t something you can just walk away from…’

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Empress’s Pampering, I Secretly Hoarded Divine Weapons and Became Invincible

ComedyFantasyRomance

Read Now →
Not interested