When Ning Rongrong left the shop, the sun over the pedestrian street was already slanting west.
She walked along the bluestone road toward the academy, her steps light and her blue skirt swaying from side to side.
Ma Hongjun sat on a bamboo chair in the alley across the street, watching Ning Rongrong leave the Claw Machine Shop.
He'd been sitting there for nearly an hour.
Because of the angle, Ma Hongjun couldn't see what was happening inside the shop. He only knew that Ning Rongrong had gone in and stayed for a long time, and no one else had entered or left in the meantime.
Ma Hongjun waited until Ning Rongrong disappeared around the corner, then waited another five minutes to make sure she wasn't coming back. Only then did he get up from the bamboo chair.
He brushed the dust off his backside, pulled the hood of his gray jacket down over his head, and headed toward the "Happy Claw Machine" across the street.
At the entrance, he peered inside through the glass.
A young man in gray-blue work clothes sat behind the counter, using some kind of Soul Tool to swipe through something.
Ma Hongjun pushed the door open and walked in.
The little bell hanging on the door rang.
Qin Chuan looked up.
Another customer. This time it was an unfamiliar male student, with a round face and small eyes. He wore a gray jacket and had his hood pulled up, looking rather furtive.
"Hello, boss." Ma Hongjun was very polite. "Want a cigarette?"
He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered it.
Qin Chuan glanced at it. "I don't smoke."
Ma Hongjun put the cigarettes away. He didn't light one himself, either, just held it in his mouth and wagged it back and forth. He wandered around the shop, looking at the six claw machines glowing with colorful lights.
Three were in the Ordinary Zone, filled with little animal plushies like rabbits, cats, and dogs. The three in the High-Tier Zone held slightly fancier toys in all sorts of colors.
Ma Hongjun wondered to himself. Why had Ning Rongrong come all the way to this shabby little shop and spent nearly an hour here? Had she even brought food?
He recalled Dai Mubai's instructions: Find out what was behind their sudden improvement.
Ma Hongjun walked up to the counter.
"Hey, I'd like to try the claw machines. How do I play?"
Qin Chuan set down the Soul Tool in his hand and pointed at the Crystal Ball.
"Put your hand on the Crystal Ball and follow the instructions."
"Got it."
Ma Hongjun reached out with his right hand and pressed his palm against the Crystal Ball.
The orb lit up.
A voice flooded into Ma Hongjun's mind.
[Congratulations! System registration successful! Welcome to the Happy Claw Machine!]
[Basic Information: Ma Hongjun, 19 years old, Soul Emperor, Level 65.]
[Ordinary Zone: 1 Gold Soul Coin, 3 attempts. High-Tier Zone: 100 Soul Power experience points, 1 attempt. Maximum 6 attempts per day.]
That was it? Ma Hongjun waited two seconds, but nothing else appeared.
Even Qin Chuan didn't know that the prizes came with a "pass it to women, never men" restriction, let alone anyone else.
Ma Hongjun felt a pang of disappointment. He'd expected the Crystal Ball to reveal some earth-shattering secret, but all he'd gotten was an ordinary claw machine instruction manual.
Wait, the High-Tier Zone was way too expensive.
"Boss, the High-Tier Zone costs 100 Soul Power experience points for just one try? That's highway robbery."
Qin Chuan spread his hands. "Can't help you. The machine sets the price, not me."
Qin Chuan knew that he only got a commission in Game Coins from players' draws; he couldn't get a cut of their Soul Power experience points.
Ma Hongjun's mouth twitched. A hundred Soul Power experience points was enough for three days of cultivation.
But to complete his mission, Ma Hongjun gritted his teeth.
"Fine, I'll start with the Ordinary Zone."
He took out a Gold Soul Coin and pressed it against the Crystal Ball. The coin was sucked away, and three copper-colored Game Coins rolled out.
With the Game Coins in hand, Ma Hongjun went to the first machine in the Ordinary Zone. He put in a coin, and the joystick popped out.
He pushed it around at random, aimed at a little red bird plushie, and pressed the button.
The mechanical claw dropped, skewed to one side, and missed.
Second coin.
This time he lined it up properly. The claw caught the bird by the wing and lifted it, but it fell before reaching the top.
"Damn it." Ma Hongjun cursed.
He missed again with the last coin.
Ma Hongjun stared at the little red bird behind the glass as a vein throbbed on his forehead.
No, he had to try again.
He pulled out another Gold Soul Coin and exchanged it for three Game Coins.
On the sixth try, Ma Hongjun channeled a thread of Soul Power through his fingers. His hand guided the joystick as steadily as a rock. The mechanical claw dropped precisely, its three metal fingers closing around the head of a brown turkey plushie.
The claw opened, and the turkey dropped into the prize chute.
The lights at the bottom flashed, followed by a cheerful ding.
It was just an ordinary turkey plushie.
Ma Hongjun turned it over and over, squeezed it, sniffed it, and even held it up to the light.
There was nothing to it. He'd spent two Gold Soul Coins and gotten a fluffy turkey.
"What the hell is this thing?" Ma Hongjun stuffed the turkey into his pocket, cursing under his breath.
Behind the counter, Qin Chuan saw Ma Hongjun's disappointed expression and felt a little bad.
"Hey, it's the taking part that counts. As long as you have fun."
Ma Hongjun gave a crooked smile but said nothing.
Darkness fell, and the lanterns along the pedestrian street began lighting up one after another. Qin Chuan stood and stretched.
"Sorry, man, but I'm closing up."
Ma Hongjun acknowledged him and left the shop.
Standing on the pedestrian street, he clutched the turkey plushie in his pocket, his thoughts racing.
The shop really did look like an ordinary claw machine shop. The Crystal Ball's instructions were perfectly normal, and though the prices were steep, there was nothing unusual about the game itself.
But why had Ning Rongrong gone out of her way to spend an hour there? And why had she brought food?
Ma Hongjun couldn't figure it out.
He looked back at the little shop, its lights now extinguished. The five crooked characters on its sign, "Happy Claw Machine," were barely visible in the dusk.
"That boss is probably not as simple as he seems," Ma Hongjun muttered, then turned and headed for the academy.
The boys' dormitory was on the third floor, and the lights were on.
When Ma Hongjun pushed the door open, all three of them were there.
Tang San sat on the bed by the window. A fresh plaster covered his waist, and he leaned against the wall reading a copy of the Blue Silver Grass Advanced Cultivation Manual.
Oscar was sprawled over the desk, fussing with his newly glued front tooth in a small mirror. His temporary resin denture was stark white, a poor match for the real teeth beside it.
Dai Mubai lay on his side in bed, an ointment patch over his left eye and his right eye fixed on the ceiling.
At the sound of the door, all three looked over at Ma Hongjun in unison.
"You're back?" Dai Mubai asked, looking at him with his right eye. "Find out anything?"
Ma Hongjun shut the door, dragged a chair to the middle of the room, and let out a long breath.
"I did. There's something going on."
Tang San closed his book and leaned forward.
Ma Hongjun recounted the whole day's events from beginning to end.
"Happy Claw Machine?" Tang San furrowed his brow. "What kind of shop is it?"
"It's for grabbing plushies." Ma Hongjun took the brown turkey plushie from his pocket and set it on the table. "There are six machines inside. You put in coins and use the claw to grab a toy. I tried it. Spent two Gold Soul Coins and got this."
The three of them focused on the turkey.
Oscar reached out and squeezed it. "It's just an ordinary plushie."
"Exactly. Nothing could be more ordinary," Ma Hongjun said. "The Crystal Ball's instructions were simple, too. They just told you how much each try costs and that the daily limit is six."
Dai Mubai sat up in bed and stared straight at Ma Hongjun with his right eye.
"But you said Ning Rongrong stayed in that shop for nearly an hour. A young lady from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect went to some shabby shop outside the academy and spent an hour there? Just to grab one of these?"
Ma Hongjun shook his head. "I thought it was strange, too. But I had a bad angle. I couldn't see what she was doing inside."
Tang San fell silent for a few seconds, tapping his fingers against the bed frame.
"What about the boss? What do you know about him?"