The Rules of Gambling House · Spring

Qin Rang and the others, who had been waiting to see what would happen next, were taken aback. They hurried back into the rubble to search, but both men were already nowhere to be found.

"Those two... we never found out who won in the end." Sheng Qingqiao looked grave. "Boss, if you fought them, could you win?"

Qin Rang shook his head, his expression unusually grave as well. "Hard to say. If I used the Evil Ghost Mask to nullify that rabbit's enlargement rule right from the start, I might stand a chance."

"They both look so young, especially Bai Yang. How can he control such a terrifying Weird Object? Won't it turn on him?" The more Tao Yuan thought about it, the more alarmed she became. She had known the young man was no ordinary person, but she hadn't expected him to give them such a big "surprise."

Weird Objects weren't something ordinary people could control. The more powerful the Weird Object, the more effort and energy it took to control it. Otherwise, it could easily turn on its wielder.

"The ability that bound the rabbit was a rule, wasn't it?" Sheng Qingqiao said. The energy contained in those red chains was alarming, even though he had only seen them from a distance.

Tao Yuan was about to speak when she spotted something among the collapsed walls. She bent down and started rummaging through the debris.

An Ying took a few steps up to the highest point in the rubble and looked around. "More people are coming."

"That made so much noise, it was bound to draw a crowd," Qin Rang said. "Bai Yang and Moonlit Night aren't here anymore anyway. Let's go."

"Okay."

"Let's find somewhere we can talk." Tao Yuan stood up and waved a white sheet of A4 paper. "I found the rules."

[Dear guests, the following are the rules you must observe upon entering Gambling House · Spring:

1. For the personal safety of all guests, please do not remain on the long staircase for more than five minutes. Do not laugh, run, or roughhouse on the stairs, lest an accident occur.

2. Darkness is safe. Darkness is dangerous.

3. Gambling is permitted in the gambling house. Please gamble to your heart's content. Gambling is forbidden in the gambling house. Gambling is dangerous.

4. The gambling house does not welcome paupers.]

"Only four rules? That's all?" Sheng Qingqiao scanned them in one glance, incredulous.

"Maybe these aren't all the rules. They look a little baffling," Tao Yuan said, finding a place to sit in the dilapidated gambling house. "But they're not impossible to explain. We already confirmed that the first one was correct."

"The second point's explanation of darkness is also correct. You'll encounter that back uncanny in the dark, but the darkness can also hide you from the toddler uncanny," Qin Rang analyzed. "By the same logic, the third rule is questionable too. It might work the same way."

"So far, none of these four rules seem false." But Tao Yuan remained skeptical about whether gambling was permitted.

"But it's too late to learn the rules now. That building has already been destroyed."

Sheng Qingqiao wasn't in the mood to discuss the rules. "Who exactly are they? They can destroy something created by a Weird Object. If they were willing to help us, wouldn't clearing this instance be easy?"

Compared with the rules, he was more concerned about Bai Yang and Moonlit Night.

One of them could instantly kill an uncanny, and Bai Yang's doll was ridiculously powerful too. He had acted as harmless as a little white flower before, only to turn around and pull out something huge right in their faces!

Sheng Qingqiao couldn't let it go.

Qin Rang said, "That Moonlit Night... An Ying, was he like this when you met him last time?"

An Ying shook his head. "I didn't talk to him much last time, but I heard he saved the squad members."

"But Bai Yang doesn't look like someone who commits every evil under the sun, either," Sheng Qingqiao said. "Why do those two dislike each other so much when they're clearly on the same side?"

Tao Yuan said, "Even people on the same team can dislike each other, let alone people in the same organization. If they have a personal grudge, that means their organization at least isn't invincible."

They said no more on the subject. It was best not to reveal that the two might have an organization behind them. There were too many people in the livestream, and other members of their organization might be watching.

And the frenzy over the matter in the livestream was far greater than among the few people in the instance.

When they first encountered Bai Yang, they had all thought he was lucky to run into several big shots from the Calamity Crossing Team right off the bat. As long as he didn't cause trouble, he could coast to victory.

Later, when Bai Yang killed his first uncanny, they belatedly realized that the young man didn't seem weak. But their attention was soon drawn away by the Calamity Crossing Team's methods of killing the uncanny.

Then Moonlit Night appeared.

In just a few minutes, Moonlit Night's slash and the two men's strange conversation had left everyone eager to see more. Finally, the enormous plush doll Bai Yang brought out shattered their understanding of the world.

Although watching it wasn't as shocking as seeing it in person, their hearts all skipped a beat when the rabbit burst through the building and stood beneath the moon.

[Wh-what the hell is that?]

[Is that really still a Weird Object under his control? You're sure the Weird Object hasn't revived?]

[Holy shit, now I've seen everything.]

[That rabbit suddenly got right in my face, and I have megalophobia... I suddenly know what it feels like to have my eyes turn scarlet.]

[That rabbit is terrifying... I feel like it could stomp me to death in one step.]

[That was so cool! Lord Rabbit! Lord Bai!]

[What are you praising them for? We don't even know if they're friends or foes.]

Meanwhile, the authorities watching the livestream instantly recalled the intelligence the Calamity Crossing Squad had reported a few days earlier and immediately realized something was wrong.

"Xiao Wu, take some people and check the Water Ghost uncanny footage. Investigate those two thoroughly, as well as that rabbit uncanny and the tattoo. Don't overlook the slightest clue!"

Inside the instance, Qin Rang also believed the authorities must be urgently searching for clues to the two men's identities. With people this powerful wielding such powerful Weird Objects, he didn't know whether it was good news or bad news for humanity.

In this era, the authorities no longer commanded as much public trust. Many people who were against humanity didn't go after the uncanny when they gained power; the first thing they did was attack their fellow humans.

Often, a Class A Weird killed fewer people than someone wielding the lowest-grade Weird Object killed of their own kind.

That Moonlit Night had put immense pressure on Qin Rang. Qin Rang was already among the authorities' far-and-away leading ranks, and the grades and variety of Weird Objects he possessed could be called a lavish collection. Yet when facing Moonlit Night and Bai Yang's plush doll, he had still felt unprecedented pressure.

"I wonder if we'll run into them again. At least for now, Bai Yang seems friendly toward us. It's hard to say about that Moonlit Night."

"Let's go. This isn't the time to relax."

"Now we can finally breathe easy."

In another dilapidated house, Bai Yang and Moonlit Night, who had been fighting just moments ago, stood on opposite sides as they closed the door, then sat down for a short rest.

"Nicely done." Bai Yang put down the Rabbit Plush Toy wrapped in chains and tapped the table with a smile. "Sit."

Moonlit Night smiled gently. "My lord, aren't you planning to keep following them?"

"I was never interested in taking part in some Weird Instance to begin with." Bai Yang fiddled with the Rabbit Plush Toy's limbs and yawned lazily. "You follow them in a bit. Just make sure they don't die."

"All right," Moonlit Night said. "My lord, the energy in this instance is abundant. Even I have to be extremely careful. Please take care when you're acting alone."

With that, he stared at the little rabbit, which couldn't move. His voice was gentle, but the disdain in his tone was obvious. "That little rabbit was spent after just one use? This system is such a rip-off. You spent so many points, and all you got was such a short burst of power."

007: ...Don't think he can't hear you badmouthing him behind his back!