Chapter 199: Drawing a Fortune

Xiao Zhu extended both hands and carefully lifted the bamboo cylinder.
The cylinder had clearly been handled by countless people; its surface was coated in a slick, oily patina that gleamed under the dim candlelight, giving off an indescribably eerie texture.
Inside, dozens of bamboo sticks were packed tightly together.
Each one had been shaved extremely thin, like the fangs of some wild beast.

“Perhaps the two of you don’t know…”
Xiao Zhu turned around, that same smile still hanging on her face.
“Our Platinum Splendor may look like it’s all about entertaining guests and indulging in fleshly pleasures up above.”
“But in truth…”
“Our boss is a genuine believer. A devout one, deep down.”

“Pfft—”
Hearing that, Lin Yu almost burst out laughing.
“A Buddhist believer?”
“Damn…”
“No…”
“Can’t laugh…”
“It’s not time yet…”

Xiao Zhu continued in that sorrowful, world-weary tone:
“Although as a casino, of course we’d love for our guests to squeeze every last drop of marrow out of themselves at the tables.”
“But…”
“Our boss has a kind heart.”
She let out a soft sigh, even forcing a hint of tears into the corners of her eyes.
“He’s a living bodhisattva, truly. He can’t bear to see tragedies where families are torn apart and homes destroyed.”
“That’s why he spared no expense to build this Buddhist hall here, in the place closest to hell…”
“—to give those who have been driven into a corner…”
“one final chance to defy fate and change their destiny.”

“Clatter—clatter—”
She began gently shaking the bamboo cylinder.
As the sticks collided inside, the sound wasn’t the crisp knock of wood, but something more like bones grinding against each other, producing a dull “gurgle gurgle.”
In this deathly silent underground chamber, the sound was like a death knell calling souls away.

“There are sixty-four sticks in this cylinder.”
Xiao Zhu explained softly as she shook it.
“They’re divided into two main types: auspicious and inauspicious, and further ranked as upper, middle, and lower.”
“The rules are simple. Draw one stick and hand it to the fortune-interpreting monk over there for interpretation.”
“If you draw an [Auspicious] one, even a lower auspicious lot, you’ll be able to reclaim part of your principal.”
“And if your luck explodes and you draw the one-in-ten-thousand [Supreme Auspicious] lot—”
She stuck out her crimson tongue and licked her lips.
“Oh my, then the Buddha truly is blessing you. Not only will you recover all the money you lost, you’ll even receive a huge sum—enough to let you make a comeback!”

“But…”
Her tone shifted abruptly, and the temperature in the air seemed to drop several degrees.
“If you draw an [Inauspicious] one… hehehe.”
Xiao Zhu covered her mouth and laughed softly, the sound especially chilling in the candlelight.
“Then I’m afraid there’s nothing to be done. The Buddha may be merciful, but karma is unfailing.”
“Since you wish to seek wealth, naturally you’ll have to…”
“leave something behind as an offering.”

“Leave… what?”
Lin Yu subconsciously grabbed Luo Shaotian’s sleeve, a chill crawling up her spine.

“That depends on…”
“what the lot says.”
Xiao Zhu didn’t explain further.
Her gaze swept ambiguously over the two of them before she raised a single finger and added the final, despair-inducing rule:
“Oh, right—there’s one more most important point.”
“To demonstrate sincerity, according to the rules here—”
“Unless you draw [Supreme Auspicious] and are allowed to leave immediately…”
“once you begin, you must draw a full ten sticks before it ends.”

Ten sticks?!
Lin Yu’s pupils shrank violently.
This wasn’t giving people a chance at all.
This was a guaranteed-death slaughter scheme.

“All right. Those are the rules.”
“Click.”
The shaking bamboo cylinder came to an abrupt stop.
Xiao Zhu held the cylinder—now seemingly weighing a thousand pounds—with both hands and slowly extended it toward them.
Her heavily shadowed eyes were filled with anticipation and mockery, like she was inviting two lambs to be slaughtered onto the altar.

“So then… you two.”
“Who will go first…”
“to offer their body to the tiger?”

Hearing this, Luo Shaotian took a deep breath, his lungs filling with that cold air tinged with sandalwood.
“Haa—tch.”
As expected, this place was even more sinister than he’d imagined.
Offering one’s body to the tiger…
Put nicely, sure—but wasn’t it just wagering human lives?

He cautiously scanned his surroundings.
Under the dim, wavering candlelight, the gilded statues stood motionless.
Only their half-lidded eyes seemed to come alive, staring fixedly at this outsider.
The pressure of being watched by thousands of eyes made the hair on his back stand on end.

‘Strange…’
Luo Shaotian muttered inwardly.
‘The atmosphere is this creepy, yet the spirit-energy detector in my sunglasses still hasn’t reacted at all… Where exactly is the fluctuation Chen Bing mentioned hiding?’

‘The unknown is often the greatest source of fear.’
It seemed…
If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how can you catch the tiger?
Did he really have no choice but to use his life to probe the waters?

After a moment’s thought, a trace of resolve flashed through Luo Shaotian’s eyes.
For the mission—and to wipe out these scum in one sweep—fine, he’d gamble!
He raised his hand, just about to take the bamboo cylinder.

However—
“Pa.”
A slender, fair hand intercepted the cylinder before him.

Luo Shaotian froze, stunned, before he could react.

“L-Luo… Luo Shao…”
Beside him came the girl’s voice, thick with sobs.
“I… I’ll go.”

Lin Yu turned her head, the corners of her eyes red, looking like someone who had been bullied to the breaking point.

…

Luo Shaotian’s heart clenched violently.
He suddenly remembered.
Th-this was still part of the act!
According to the script, this really was the moment for the “little mistress” to step up and take the blame.

Although reason told him this was just acting, just one part of the mission—
seeing Lin Yu’s frail, helpless back…
a wave of indescribable bitterness still surged in his chest.

He had… once again let his closest friend take the risk.

“Haa…”

Compared to Luo Shaotian’s inner turmoil, Lin Yu—now kneeling on the prayer cushion—was actually steady as a rock inside.
She struggled to maintain that “scared stiff” expression on her face while rolling her eyes disdainfully in her heart.

‘Tch—’
‘What kind of nonsense is this?’
‘Offering oneself to a tiger?’
‘Betting your life?’
‘Please, your auntie here is in transformation mode, okay?!’

The stat panel of [Gray Crystal] was right there!
Even if they really conjured up a tiger, Gray Crystal could punch it into paste with one blow!
As long as she could transform, as long as she had power—that was her greatest confidence.

After all, she was someone who had torn apart even that damn birdman angel with her bare hands!
A mere crippled remnant of a gang—what tricks could they possibly pull on her in this basement?

If it weren’t for that damned undercover mission, if it weren’t for cooperating with Luo Shaotian in this melodramatic farce, she would’ve slaughtered her way from the front door to here without even blinking.

“Clatter…”
“Clatter clatter…”
She held the bamboo cylinder with both hands and began shaking it rhythmically.
The bamboo sticks struck the inner walls.

“Gurgle gurgle… gurgle gurgle…”

However, as the shaking continued, Lin Yu gradually began to feel something was off.
That sound… was too loud.
Really too loud.
It didn’t sound like bamboo colliding at all.
Instead, it felt more like something scraping violently against her eardrums.

And worse—
that sound seemed to carry some kind of power.
With every collision, her heartbeat uncontrollably sped up by one beat, and her vision even darkened for an instant.

Thump, thump, thump…

“Gurgle… pop!”
Just as Lin Yu was starting to feel irritated and restless, one bamboo stick finally popped free from the cylinder and fell to the ground.

“Uh…”
Lin Yu hurriedly picked it up—and her expression immediately turned strange.

What the hell was this?
A completely bare bamboo sliver?
Forget words—there wasn’t even a ghostly scribble on it.
It was clean, like a freshly shaved chopstick.

“Heh heh.”
Beside her, Xiao Zhu let out a meaningful chuckle and extended a finger tipped with red nail polish, pointing toward a dark corner on the right side of the hall.

It’s not over yet.
Take the lot and go to the [Fortune-Interpreting Monk].

Lin Yu followed the direction of her finger.
In the shadows of the corner, there really was an unremarkable statue squatting there.

Unlike the other tall, imposing statues plated in gold,
this one was very small—only half a person’s height.
Its entire body was bone-white, as if carved from skeleton itself.

A layer of cracked gold wrapped around it.
Its hands were clasped before its chest, palms slightly cupped, holding a pool of pitch-black, stagnant water.

What made people most uncomfortable was—
it was smiling.

A smile painted in cinnabar.
The corners of its mouth split all the way to its ears, its eyes squeezed into thin slits, radiating an indescribable wickedness.

“Place the bamboo stick into his palm.”
Xiao Zhu said softly.
“The Buddha’s will will reveal itself.”

‘Tch… what a bunch of theatrics.’
Lin Yu complained inwardly, but still obediently stood up and walked over with the bamboo stick.

Only when she got closer did she realize that the water in the statue’s palms gave off a faint stench of decay.
“What kind of water is this…? Don’t they ever change it?”

Pinching her nose, Lin Yu cautiously dipped one end of the bamboo stick into the black water.

“Szz—”
The moment the stick touched the water, it actually made a sound like red-hot iron plunged into liquid.

Then, something miraculous happened.
On the previously bare bamboo surface, red patterns truly began to surface.
As if something were writing on it in fresh blood.

But…
the characters were faint and tiny, crooked and uneven—
like the doodles of a mischievous child.

“What does this even say…?”
Lin Yu frowned and instinctively leaned closer, trying to make it out by the dim candlelight.

“This is…?”

At the very instant she focused intently on deciphering the character—

“Heeheehee—!!!”
A shrill, piercing laugh exploded without warning!

Lin Yu didn’t even have time to look up.
The once motionless, pallid statue’s neck suddenly stretched out!
It lunged in an instant, stopping right in front of Lin Yu’s nose!

The eyes that had been painted on it were now actually open!
Inside them were no eyeballs—only two bottomless black hollows, staring straight at Lin Yu.

From its gaping, split mouth burst a wave of corpse-stench, accompanied by a screeching howl:
“—Lowest of the low! Utterly inauspicious!!! Hahahahahahahahaha!”

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