The Cheat

After the Red-robed Cult Master finished speaking, the two of them had already left the highway.

The scenery around them blurred past. The Red-robed Cult Master drove as if she had a grudge against the accelerator, practically trying to kick it through the front hood.

Whenever there were no cars on the road, she kept the pedal floored.

Hard acceleration, hard braking.

If she hadn't spared part of her attention to chat just now,

that woman probably could have pushed past two hundred kilometers per hour on the highway.

The next moment, just as they were about to leave the highway, the Red-robed Cult Master picked up her phone. Keeping one hand steady on the steering wheel, she poked at the phone screen with the other.

The sight made Qin Shang's eyelids twitch violently.

"Lady, using your phone while driving will get you points deducted..."

"Heh..."

The woman didn't answer. She simply made a call and then set the phone down.

Beep, beep, beep—

Soon, a deep voice came through the Bluetooth.

"Master!"

Because the Red-robed Cult Master's phone was connected to the car's Bluetooth, she had the call on speaker.

So Qin Shang could hear the voice on the other end as well.

The Red-robed Cult Master didn't waste any time and got straight to the point.

"Where is the brother of 'Grandpa Niu cosplaying as a maid and seducing Zhuangzhuang's mom'? The same old place as before?"

At that, the person on the other end said, "Please wait."

A moment later, the voice on the other end carried a hint of oddness.

"Yes, Master. And that fellow hasn't left there for two straight weeks."

There?

Qin Shang furrowed his brows. The Red-robed Cult Master's call had just mentioned "Grandpa Niu," so she was obviously taking him to find the brother of "Grandpa Niu cosplaying as a maid and seducing Zhuangzhuang's mom."

"Heh, staying there that long, he must have lost quite a bit, right?"

The next moment, the Red-robed Cult Master's expression turned cold and calm as she asked flatly,

"How much did he lose?"

The person on the other end fell silent for a moment before answering.

"Over forty million..."

At that figure, even the Red-robed Cult Master's usually placid, beautiful face showed a trace of surprise. She then bared her teeth in a cold smile.

"Now that's a sizable stake. This fellow has quite an appetite. He lost that much in two weeks? Where did he get all that money?"

"Borrowed it!"

"Did 'the Cheat' lend it to him?"

"Yes."

Only then did the Red-robed Cult Master raise her willow brows in confusion.

"Strange. Given the Cheat's personality, he should have chopped him up and fed him to the dogs. Not chopping off his hands and feet was already generous of him. He actually lent him money?"

After saying that, the Red-robed Cult Master hung up directly, not giving Qin Shang a chance to ask anything.

After leaving the highway, she hit the accelerator and drove south toward an intersection.

Qin Shang wasn't a native of Yanjing and wasn't familiar with the local geography. He had no idea where the Red-robed Cult Master was taking them.

All he saw were towering buildings surrounding them. They had spent at least half an hour on the highway.

He had thought they had left the urban district, but judging by their surroundings, this didn't look like the suburbs either.

Qin Shang's previous impression of Yanjing had been vague. Even during the period when Jiang Qiqi had just gone missing and he had traveled to Yanjing to find his wife, he hadn't learned much about Yanjing's local customs, terrain, or landforms.

So he had no idea which district this was...

After hanging up, the Red-robed Cult Master's mood seemed somewhat unstable. The woman didn't take the initiative to talk to Qin Shang about anything related to the Divine Path Players for the rest of the drive.

Qin Shang also didn't dare court trouble by asking her questions.

What the Red-robed Cult Master had explained earlier was enough to keep him digesting it for a while.

About ten minutes later, the Red-robed Cult Master turned left and right through the city, then drove into some alley whose location Qin Shang couldn't identify.

The bright-red Ferrari soon stopped in front of a hotel.

That was right—a hotel.

When Qin Shang saw the hotel, a trace of astonishment passed imperceptibly across his face.

What was this woman planning?

Was the brother of "Grandpa Niu" here?

The Red-robed Cult Master said nothing. She merely tossed out, "Get out."

Then she pushed open the car door and walked straight out first.

Qin Shang had no choice but to open the door and follow her.

The woman walked extremely quickly. As soon as she got out of the car, she went straight into the hotel.

The decor was plain, like that of an ordinary budget hotel. The Red-robed Cult Master was worth several hundred million, after all.

She shouldn't be choosing a place like this for a tryst or a stay, should she?

At that thought, Qin Shang's tense sphincter relaxed slightly.

He really had been worried that he might lose his virtue in his old age.

After all, men became bad when they got rich, while women's sexual orientation changed when they got rich...

He had heard that wealthy older single women all liked to turn the natural order upside down, though he had no idea whether that was true.

When he had seen the hotel just now, some decidedly inappropriate images had actually flashed through Qin Shang's mind.

He had been afraid that this woman might do something strange to him...

"Where's the front desk staff? Notify your manager. Tell him I'm here to see the Cheat."

The next moment, the Red-robed Cult Master didn't bother with pleasantries. After entering the hotel, she extended her slender jade finger and tapped the front desk.

"Have the Cheat come see me within three minutes. Otherwise, I'll call the police and report that people are gambling here!"

At that, the young man at the front desk's expression fell. He didn't even have time to admire the stunning beauty who had just entered before awkwardly picking up the desk phone.

A few seconds later, he cast a nervous glance at the Red-robed Cult Master and spoke bitterly into the receiver.

"Boss, a woman in a red dress has come in and insists on seeing you."

"Yes, she said that if you don't show up within three minutes, she'll report us..."

The other end of the phone immediately erupted with profane curses involving his mother.

"Who the hell does she think she is? Which blind idiot came here looking to die?" and similar angry abuses poured from the other end of the line.

The Red-robed Cult Master impatiently raised her delicate hand, lowered her head to glance at the time on her watch, and said flatly,

"One minute has passed!"

As soon as she spoke, Qin Shang had still been able to vaguely hear the noisy sounds from the other side as the doorman spoke with the boss. Yet now, to his surprise, the voice on the other end fell silent.

Then came a booming, "Wait for me. I'm coming!"

Even though the doorman hadn't turned on the speaker, Qin Shang could vaguely hear it.

It seemed the other party had recognized the Red-robed Cult Master's voice.

The doorman then forced an awkward smile and looked at the Red-robed Cult Master.

"The boss says he'll be here right away!"

"I don't care about that. I said three minutes. If I don't see him within three minutes, I'll report him..."

After saying that, the woman turned around with imposing momentum, found a chair, and sat down, crossing her legs as she did so.

Her slender, pale fingers tapped rhythmically on the glass table, as if she were silently counting down the seconds.

Half a minute later, the Red-robed Cult Master's brows drew together slightly.

"One and a half minutes left..."

The corner of Qin Shang's mouth twitched. Why had she become like this after getting out of the car...

No, wait. It seemed that ever since that phone call, she had suddenly become a little emotional.

This woman was clearly a high-level Divine Path Player.

Qin Shang guessed blindly that the Red-robed Cult Master was at least in the Order Realm.

More likely, she was a peak Order Realm player—a level-six veteran...

As for her class, Qin Shang couldn't guess.

Still, even as a level-one novice con artist, he had already felt how powerful becoming a Divine Path Player was.

Regardless of their class, level-six players could use all kinds of bizarre item abilities to do illegal or deranged things. Ordinary people might not be able to stop them.

Especially now, the Red-robed Cult Master gave Qin Shang the feeling that she was suppressing something.

Like a volcano on the verge of erupting, she radiated a fierce, imposing aura.

Not the slightest trace of a smile or brightness could be seen on her alluring face.

"Ten seconds left..."

Just then, the Red-robed Cult Master spoke again.

Qin Shang's heart sank.

"Why are you rushing me? Damn it!"

"Don't you need time to get dressed? Besides, how did you have time to come here, you crazy hag?"

"Instead of staying at your Ten Thousand Treasures House collecting rent and selling items, why did you come to my territory to cause trouble?"