The Casino Dilemma
Chen Ling's gaze lightly swept across the entrance of the Casino, and his heart sank.
At the entrance of the Casino, good and bad people mixed together. People were entering and exiting at every moment, which showed that the Casino's business was booming and very popular... But Chen Ling's focus wasn't on this.
After his original Secret Pupil was integrated into Paint the Rosy Face, Chen Ling's observation ability had become even more meticulous, and he was also more sensitive to the gazes of others. Just like when he was in the Su Embroidery Museum and immediately noticed the gaze of the Embroidery Diagram, he had just walked to the Casino entrance when he felt more than a dozen gazes sweep over from different directions.
Chen Ling didn't choose to enter the door. Instead, after stopping in his tracks, he naturally squatted down and pretended to retie his shoelaces tightly.
At the same time, Chen Ling's peripheral vision began to focus on the directions those gazes were coming from.
"The rickshaw puller across the street has been intentionally or unintentionally looking at the entrance. During this time, gamblers passed by wanting to take a ride, but he waved them off, saying he was waiting for someone..."
"The drunkard at the Casino entrance, holding a few scattered chips, looks drunk, but is actually constantly squinting his eyes to observe the surroundings..."
"And that group of gamblers who just went in, they were clearly together but didn't communicate with each other. Instead, they secretly observed their surroundings. The bulges at their waists indicate they should be hiding guns..."
In the dozen or so seconds of tying his shoelaces, Chen Ling had figured out the sources of these gazes, his brain working rapidly.
It seemed that the people of the Red Dust Domain had become suspicious, actually sending so much manpower to monitor the Casino. What he had discovered now were only the informants outside the door. There were surely even more inside the Casino, likely all disguised as gamblers sneaking in. Even worse, perhaps there were spies among the internal staff as well...
There was no doubt that this Casino, inside and out, was already completely under Surveillance.
"The disguise of these people can only be described as ordinary. They are most likely personnel from the Police Officers' side... But if the Red Dust Main City truly became suspicious of this place, the possibility of [Floating Life Painting] also being involved cannot be ruled out."
Chen Ling finished tying his shoelaces. He didn't walk into the interior of the Casino, but instead naturally walked past the entrance and continued forward along the road.
Seeing that Chen Ling wasn't heading to the Casino, those gazes that fell upon him gradually shifted away, and his tense body finally relaxed.
Under the current circumstances, Chen Ling naturally couldn't risk going in, let alone go up to the second floor to rendezvous with Jian Changsheng and the others... If [Floating Life Painting] had truly locked onto this place and believed there were Dusk Society members here, then logically speaking, they should have immediately mobilized manpower to suppress them all. Yet, this situation hadn't occurred.
In that case, there were only two possibilities:
First, [Floating Life Painting] wasn't sure how many Dusk Society members were here, nor were they sure of their strength. Given the Dusk Society's current "illustrious reputation" among the Nine Great Realms, they would most likely be extremely vigilant and not dare to act rashly.
Second, [Floating Life Painting] believed they could deal with all the Dusk Society members here, but they wanted to cast a long line to catch a big fish. Using this Casino as bait, they wanted to let more Dusk Society members walk right into the trap, and then annihilate them all in one fell swoop at the very end.
Between these two possibilities, Chen Ling actually leaned more towards the first one. After all, the strength of the Dusk Society members was extremely high. If a fight really broke out and it turned into a life-and-death struggle, this entire block or even half the Main City would be reduced to nothingness. And even so, they couldn't guarantee they could keep all the members here...
In the eyes of [Floating Life Painting], this Casino was like a nuclear bomb in the Main City that could detonate at any time. If they proactively touched it, it would undoubtedly explode. But if they didn't figure out a way to dismantle it, it would be a huge hidden danger, leaving them conflicted and helpless.
"It's a stalemate..." Chen Ling muttered to himself. "Either wait for the Dusk Society to make a move, forcing [Floating Life Painting] to take action, leading to a massive battle between both sides; or [Floating Life Painting] is secretly preparing some ultimate move to annihilate the Casino in one breath... Of course, it's also possible I'm thinking too negatively. Perhaps [Floating Life Painting] hasn't confirmed yet that this place is definitely a stronghold of the Dusk Society?"
But regardless of which guess it was, one thing was certain... Chen Ling absolutely couldn't rendezvous with Jian Changsheng and the others right now.
After pondering briefly, Chen Ling figured out the current situation of the Casino. The question was, what next?
He couldn't never rendezvous with the other members forever. He had to figure out a way to resolve the Casino's stalemate... But as for how to resolve it, Chen Ling had no clue at all right now.
"Whatever... First, I'll find a place to stay where I can secretly monitor the Casino's situation, then we'll see."
Having made up his mind, Chen Ling began searching along this street.
After walking around, Chen Ling's gaze fell on a Theater House directly opposite the Casino that looked to have been abandoned.
The exterior of this Theater House was quite retro, or rather, old. From afar, it looked like a pavilion built from wood, except the main doors and the second-floor windows were already dilapidated. Coupled with the fact that it never lit up at night, at first glance, it didn't look any different from a Chinese-style haunted house in a horror movie.
Not to mention the old facade, the location of this Theater House was also quite poor. It wasn't that it didn't face the street or had low foot traffic, but rather its diagonal opposite was a neon-flashing dance hall. Forty percent of the pedestrians on this road were headed for this dance hall. The resplendent doors swallowed and spat out large numbers of young men and women, and the customer flow was not even inferior to the Casino.
Compared to this dance hall, this dilapidated Theater House truly looked like ruins from an old era. Even though it was right opposite the Casino, it was completely Unregarded.
Chen Ling paused at the entrance of this Theater House for a long time, but still took steps and walked in.
Creak—
The door of the Theater House wasn't locked. With a gentle push, it emitted an ear-piercing sound. To Chen Ling's surprise, this outwardly dilapidated Theater House was actually very clean inside. Although it was completely empty with nothing in it, it was spotless, as if someone cleaned it every day.
Chen Ling swept his gaze around in some astonishment. Before he could investigate carefully, a voice rang out from the side.
"Wh-who are you?! Our home has nothing for you to steal."
Chen Ling looked in the direction of the voice. Behind a small, tattered door, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy was looking at him vigilantly, holding a prop spear used for Singing opera in his hand. The tip of the spear trembled nervously along with his hand.
There was actually someone living inside?
"I'm not a thief." Chen Ling raised both his hands, indicating he had no ill intent. "I was just passing by, saw there was a Theater House here, and came in to take a look... Are you not open for business today?"
"We haven't been open for business in a long time. The Theater House is about to be sold."
Seeing that Chen Ling didn't seem to have any ill intent, the boy's expression relaxed slightly, but he still didn't put down the prop spear in his hand. Instead, he spoke again in a deep voice, "There's no play to watch here... Leave quickly. If you don't leave, I'll call the Police Officers."
Chen Ling's brows arched up slightly. He stared at the boy for a long time, then suddenly asked:
"Then what if... I want to buy this Theater House?"