Xia De frowned at the fat chef's demand. He looked at the man collecting money, who was called "Mr. Nite," and the latter shook his head:
"This is between you two. The club won't stop him from leaving, but you have to convince Fat Jack."
"I don't have any money left."
Xia De pulled out the pockets on both sides of his overcoat; indeed, there was nothing inside except a key chain and a notebook, because his money was in the inside pocket:
"I didn't expect him to owe so much money."
Little Franklin had already stood up, his head bowed, silent beside Xia De. Although he was a bit of a scoundrel, he knew that he now had to rely on this person, who didn't seem much older than himself, to leave.
"No money?"
The fat chef angrily bent down and picked up the four scattered rhode cards on the ground, showing Xia De their suits: sun 1, Sun 8, star 13, and Emperor.
The Emperor and Empress are independent cards outside of the four suits, somewhat similar to the jokers in Xia De's world, but they play a very interesting role in Rhode Card games similar to "21 points."
"Draw one from these four cards. If you draw the Emperor, you can take him. If you don't, he leaves all his clothes, and you leave your upper garment."
Muttering, the fat chef began to shuffle the cards behind his back. Then, with a hand that had bloody tooth marks, he held the four cards face down, fanned out:
"Don't say I'm a bad person; he bit me."
He grumbled, motioning for Xia De to draw a card quickly.
Xia De blinked, reaching out to stop Little Franklin, who was about to reach out:
"If your luck is good enough, I won't have to redeem you here."
As he spoke, the Destiny Ring in his soul slowly rotated, spirit activating elements, and elements influencing reality. His right eye gained some subtle red marks; the Echo of Blood reflected the bloodstains in Xia De's eyes.
The world in his eyes changed, everything taking on a strange halo. Even though Little Franklin had only sprayed a small amount of blood onto the cards earlier, and it was all on the front, the spell of the Echo of Blood still allowed Xia De to see faint red traces in the air and different red mist glows around the four cards in the fat chef's hand.
He had just seen that the "Emperor" card had the highest blood content sprayed on it. Therefore, he almost immediately knew that the card he needed to draw was the second one from the left.
"Am I bullying someone? Is it wrong to be like this right after becoming a Ring術士?"
He thought distractedly, examining his moral and values.
Then he reached out his finger and placed it on the card on the far right. His eyes, however, did not look at the back of the card, but stared intently at the fat chef's face. The fat chef immediately tensed his fat face, trying hard not to show any expression.
Mr. Nite and Little Franklin, who were standing by, were both captivated by this scene.
"This one isn't it."
Xia De said softly, placing his finger on the second card from the right, staring intently at the chef's face for a few more seconds:
"This one isn't it either."
He shook his head, this time moving to the correct card. After several seconds, he slowly drew it out amidst the fat chef's barely suppressed expression of surprise:
"This is it this time."
The card slowly flipped over; it was indeed the "Emperor."
"This should count as bullying ordinary people."
He thought to himself.
"Damn it, I didn't realize you were an experienced gambler."
The fat chef was surprised for a moment, then angrily threw the other three cards in his hand onto the ground:
"Take this damned brat away. If he ever owes money and doesn't pay it back again, be careful not to fall into my hands."
The accountant's son's pale face showed a relieved smile, while Xia De nodded. He didn't comment on other people's behavior, only knowing that the spell 【Echo of Blood】 was indeed of great help to his Detective career.
After giving Xia De the receipt, to prevent Xia De and the dejected Little Franklin from running around the club, the man wanted to escort the two outside the club. But as the three of them had just reached the second-floor staircase, preparing to go down, they were stopped.
It was a woman in her thirties dressed as a maid. Her appearance was quite ordinary, but her demeanor was excellent.
She came down the stairs from the third floor:
"The Lady wants to see you."
She looked at Xia De and nodded slightly to him.
"Is there someone behind me?"
Xia De immediately looked behind him, but there was no one:
"Me?"
"Yes, sir, please follow me. Your friend can wait for you on the first floor for now."
The woman said. Xia De was confused and looked at the man leading the way, who shrugged:
"There is only one distinguished guest on the third floor tonight. If it's The Lady, you'd best go up with her. She is a very noble Lady. As for him, I'll watch him for you, ensuring he doesn't get near the gambling tables."
As he spoke, he patted Little Franklin's shoulder very hard twice. The latter almost fell over but dared not object to Xia De's departure.
"May I know who The Lady is?"
Xia De asked hesitantly, suspecting she might be the club owner or someone similar, or even that Mrs. Lasoya, Mr. Lawrence's "mistress," had discovered him.
But he didn't understand why she was looking for him. The previous Detective's only interaction with this place was coming to pick someone up last time. Besides that, Xia De had no other social connections that could possibly be related to this club.
He was also worried about the cat at home and wanted to return home as soon as possible to prevent the new cat from relieving itself on his bed or desk.
"The Lady is a titled noble, our most distinguished guest tonight. For her reputation, you cannot know The Lady's identity for now."
The woman dressed as a maid said in standard delarion common language. Xia De then nodded slightly, knowing he couldn't refuse:
"Then what is it about? I apologize, but I don't seem to know anyone of such noble status."
"Please follow me."
The woman leading the way turned and walked upstairs. Xia De hesitated for a moment, then followed.
Compared to the relatively quiet second floor, the third floor was absolutely silent. From the decor, if he hadn't come from downstairs, Xia De would have even believed it was a floor of an art gallery.
He followed behind the maid, walking along the corridor carpet while looking at the oil paintings on both sides of the wall. They stopped in front of a golden double-door. The maid helped push open the left door just enough for Xia De to enter:
"The Lady is waiting for you inside."
Xia De nodded again, waited for a second, and when he didn't hear the voice of the woman in his mind prompt the appearance of an "element," he entered the room.
The maid closed the door from the outside. Xia De stood with his back to the door, looking at the empty reception room.
The room layout here was very similar to the doctor's reception room and consultation room.
Bookshelves occupied an entire wall, and the room's floor was completely covered by carpets. The combination of a desk, coffee table, and sofa, as well as the cupboard, were all brown wooden furnishings, giving it a very business-office style.
Only the brass-colored metal box on the coffee table was eye-catching. This looked like a so-called gear mechanism box, requiring the large and small gears on its six sides to be rotated into a specific arrangement to open.
The steam and gas pipes on the walls blended well with the color of the painted walls. There were two gas lamps on each of the surrounding walls, shaped like angels blowing horns, but their warm yellow light was not brighter than the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
The three windows on the wall directly opposite the door were covered by thick, embroidered reddish-brown fabric curtains, but Xia De did not consider the possibility of someone hiding behind the curtains.
It was extremely quiet, which made Xia De feel a chilling sensation. Someone was watching him, but definitely not in this room.
