Guests
As the black thunderclouds gradually faded away, the initially torrential heavy rain gradually lessened. Wisps of faint light shone through the clouds and fell onto the street.
Holding an umbrella in one hand and a bag of Sunflower Seeds bought from who-knows-where in the other, Chen Ling unhurriedly walked to the entrance of the Jinghong Theater.
Seeing those two sorry figures looking like rain-beaten eggplants, a faint smile hooked the corners of Chen Ling's mouth:
"Yo, you two are still here?"
At this moment, the two looked at the sky overhead that had finally recovered its clearness. Their cold and numb faces were brimming with hot tears, excited as if they had survived a desperate situation...
Hearing Chen Ling's voice, the two's bodies trembled. They wiped their tears hard and spoke stubbornly and ferociously:
"Thought a rainstorm could drive us away? Hehe... In your dreams!"
"Let me tell you, running into the two of us, you can consider yourself extremely unlucky. You'd better hurry up and kneel to beg Brother Hong for mercy. Otherwise, the two of us will make you suffer the consequences!"
"Is that so? Then keep at it, you guys."
Chen Ling waved his hand and walked straight back into the Theater House.
Seeing this, the bored Kong Baosheng immediately stood up. Seeing the bag of Sunflower Seeds in Chen Ling's hand, he asked in confusion:
"Mr. Lin, if you wanted to eat Sunflower Seeds, you could have just asked me to go buy them... It was raining so heavily just now, why make a trip yourself."
"I didn't know what flavors there were, and since I was bored, I just took a stroll myself."
Chen Ling buying this bag of Sunflower Seeds was actually also to deceive the two at the door. They were Li Ruohong's men after all. If he went out in the heavy rain and came back empty-handed, and during that time the Cabaret happened to encounter trouble... Although Chen Ling didn't think these two idiots could be that smart, it was never wrong to be careful.
Chen Ling sat down leisurely on the rocking chair, casually opened the Sunflower Seeds in his hand, and looked at the Cabaret not far away through the pattering curtain of rain outside the door.
Today's Performance should be enough to bring the Cabaret into the Police Officers' line of sight. However, Chen Ling still wasn't clear to what extent the Police Officers and [Floating Life Painting] currently suspected the Casino. If this suspicion was only superficial and hadn't grasped any substantive evidence, then the results of today's Performance should be reflected very soon...
"Let the bullets fly for a while longer."
Chen Ling cracked a sunflower seed, casually threw the shell fragments on the table, and slightly narrowed his eyes.
...
The next day.
Casino.
Jian Changsheng slowly sat up from the bed, slowly walked to the vanity mirror, and looked at his bloodshot and haggard eyes, letting out a helpless sigh.
Since the Casino was targeted, he hadn't had a single good night's sleep. Every night, he was on guard against [Floating Life Painting] suddenly launching an attack. Even in his dreams, he was fighting. One or two days would be fine, but continuing like this for a long time made his spirit increasingly exhausted and sensitive.
This Casino was a property Chen Ling specially left for him. Using it as a Dusk Society stronghold was simply perfect. Moreover, there were also quite a few Dusk Society members hiding here now. Jian Changsheng didn't want the place he had painstakingly managed for half a year to just be destroyed like this.
Jian Changsheng washed his face with cold water. After recovering his clarity, he pushed the door open and walked into the living room.
At this time, two people had already gotten up in the living room. One was the bored 9, and the other was the coffin-maker 10 of Diamonds, whom he had met once during the destruction of Aurora City.
Compared to the terribly anxious Jian Changsheng, 9's state was much more leisurely. In his words, if they were exposed, then they were exposed. At worst, everyone would fight together, and whether they could slip away would be By One's Own Merit... For senior Dusk Society members, they had experienced this so-called crisis many times and wouldn't take it to heart.
"How is Senior Bai Ye's condition?" Jian Changsheng tilted his head back and downed the cold water on the table in one gulp, then spoke with a frown.
"Still the same... He won't die, but he isn't waking up either."
"It's been so many days, and he still hasn't woken up..." Jian Changsheng paused for a moment. "Perhaps we should find a Doctor to take a look."
"At a time like this, where would we find a Doctor? And there are so many people watching outside. Once a Doctor comes over, they'll probably immediately connect it to Bai Ye, whom we abducted earlier... It's no different from exposing ourselves."
Hearing this, Jian Changsheng sighed and paced around the room. "That is indeed the logic..."
"Don't worry, Bai Ye won't die so easily. Just leave him be."
Jian Changsheng walked to the window, pulled back a corner of the curtain, and frowned as he stared at the people coming and going at the Casino entrance below... After an unknown amount of time, a deep confusion and incomprehension surfaced in his eyes.
"Strange..."
"What's wrong?"
"Why do I feel like there are far fewer people staking us out today?"
"?"
The other Dusk Society members also froze for a moment. They got up and peeked out the window at the situation below, confusion similarly surfacing on their faces.
"Indeed, those few spots that were constantly staking us out are already half empty."
"Speaking of which, there are also far fewer guests in the Casino today who are only watching and not playing. I guess a portion of the Plainclothes Officers didn't come?"
"Could it be that they no longer suspect us? That shouldn't be..."
"Where did all these Plainclothes Officers run off to??"
...
Great World Cabaret.
"Huh, there are quite a few guests today?"
Li Ruohong stood in the VIP box on the second floor, looking at the seats below that were mostly filled, his eyes full of astonishment.
After yesterday's events, Li Ruohong originally thought it would affect the Cabaret's reputation, leading to a sharp decrease in customer flow today. He had even prepared various events and discount promotions, as well as inviting famous singers to boost the Cabaret's popularity... But he didn't expect that upon opening today, there were still quite a few guests coming in.
And no Police Officers came to inquire, let alone search for any corpse... Looking at it this way, yesterday's events didn't blow up as big as he imagined?
Thinking of this, Li Ruohong's heart instantly relaxed quite a bit. Aside from a few waiters running away last night, and his other personal bodyguard leaving, everything was the same as usual. But these waiters and bodyguards weren't important at all. As long as he was willing to spend money, couldn't he get as many as he wanted?
Li Ruohong was in an excellent mood. He directly called the manager over and said with a wave of his hand:
"Tell the guests downstairs, all spending today is 20... no, 30% off!"
The manager froze for a moment. Although he didn't understand Li Ruohong's thoughts, he still nodded, not daring to say anything more.
Just as he was about to leave, as if he remembered something, he turned back and took out an invitation card from his pocket: "Brother Hong, the birthday banquet invitation from the Beidou Consortium has been sent over. The time is the day after tomorrow, you see..."
"I see? See what? This is my Maternal Uncle's birthday, of course I have to go!"
Li Ruohong put the invitation card away. His peripheral vision caught a glimpse of VIP Box 001 opposite him. A thought stirred in his mind, and he spoke again, "Also, get me two sets of bodyguard Suits in these next two days, and arrange for a better car."
"Bodyguard Suits? Have you already selected new bodyguards?"
"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask."
"...Yes."