Card Room (Rebirth)
chapter-120

After the trio returned to the Peach Blossom Spring, they sat under the tree to rest and discuss countermeasures.

It could be seen from Xue Mingyue’s words that there were tens of millions of locals and challengers in the City of the Moon. The city was larger than the Earth-era capital and it wasn’t easy to find two people in such a big city.

Xue Mingyue’s approach gave Xiao Lou inspiration. “What if we move to the station and use the search broadcast?”

Liu Qiao agreed with a nod. “We can try it.”

They left the Peach Blossom Spring and took a taxi to the train station.

Unlike the tree-shaped airport, the shape of the train station was more like a flower in full bloom. The green and leafy part of the first floor was the arrival level, while the flower was the second floor departure hall. The green leaves with the light blue flowers made the entire station look very recognizable. There were more pedestrians here than at the airport and it was hard to tell the challengers from the locals.

Xiao Lou’s group took the escalator to the arrival level. They were just going to the information desk when suddenly, a middle-aged man came to the three of them and asked, “The three of you, can I help you find a hotel?”

Yu Hanjiang looked cautiously at him. “No thanks.”

The man came to them and whispered, “I also offer a consulting service for challengers.”

Xiao Lou heard this and couldn’t help wondering how the man could see they were challengers. Was the word ‘challenger’ written on their faces? Seeing his doubts, the middle-aged man smiled and said, “You must be new to the City of the Moon but you didn’t bring any luggage. Am I wrong?”

Xiao Lou looked around and found that the passengers coming and going did carry their luggage. Some were dragging suitcases, some were carrying travel bags and some white-collar workers were carrying briefcases. The three of them had empty hands and didn’t look like passengers of the train.

Xiao Lou stated, “We are going to pick up people.”

The middle-aged man said, “Then you should go to the side of the arrival channel, not this way.”

His bluff was punctured and Xiao Lou had to smile helplessly, “Okay, why are you looking for us?”

The middle-aged man said, “The challengers who come here are as empty-handed you. They have nothing by cards.” The man waved the moment he saw Yu Hanjiang’s cold and sharp eyes. “I have no malice. I am looking for novices at the train station to provide consulting services. This is also a way to support myself since life is hard in the Card World!”

He had an ‘I have elderly parents and children, it isn’t easy to support my family’ sincere expression. “If you have any questions then you can ask me for advice. For example, which hotel environment is good and cheap, where are the delicious and affordable food, which agency should you use to rent a house etc. In addition, if you need a one day tour of the City of the Moon then I can contact a travel agency for you.”

He looked at Xiao Lou with a big smile. “I don’t charge much. You only had to pay after receiving a satisfactory answer. If you aren’t satisfied then you can get a refund. You will only be charged 5,000 gold coins for a question and this is equivalent to 50 yuan. By the way, you can call me Old Mo, this is my business card.”

Xiao Lou, “…”

This brother was quite talented. He actually thought of this way to make money.

However, challengers who just came to the City of the Moon really didn’t know anything. They were like headless flies and were easily cheated. If they stayed in a place that robbed or killed guests like Financial Crisis, don’t mention the possibility of their money being stolen. Their lives might be lost.

50 yuan wasn’t expensive to consult with an insider. He just didn’t know if this old man was reliable. Xiao Lou looked down at the business card.

Mo Xuemin, 40 years old, designer of Xinxin Decoration Company, Tel: 0099-86590876.

Yu Hanjiang simply took out 10,000 gold coins out of his pocket and asked, “There are two questions. If you can really answer them then the 10,000 gold coins will be given to you. First, how can I get in contact with the Intelligence Bureau?”

Old Mo wondered, “You are very well informed. You just came here and already know about the Intelligence Bureau?”

Yu Hanjiang asked, “Do you know how to contact them?”

The man smiled and touched his nose. “The Intelligence Bureau is very mysterious. Their boss has never been seen and we only know that his surname is Tang. We call him Mr Tang. The headquarters of the Intelligence Bureau is unknown but there are four branches in the City of the Moon and in the City of the Sun.”

He came over and lowered his voice. “The four branches have the big sign ‘Tang Welfare Lottery’. They are located in the city centres and sell lottery tickets on the surface. However, people in the Card World don’t understand the lottery at all. These lottery stores only operate on Wednesday. You can go to any branch to buy a ticket on Wednesday.”

Yu Hanjiang had questioned many prisoners and this man didn’t seem to be a liar, from his expression to his eyes. He dared to look into Yu Hanjiang’s eyes when answering questions and had a sincere attitude. Yu Hanjiang believed his answer for the moment and gave 10,000 gold coins.

Immediately, he followed by asking, “Do you know the challenger associations? Give us a brief introduction?”

The middle-aged man took the gold coins and replied seriously. “The largest challenger association among the challengers is called the Eternal Kingdom and their headquarters is in the City of the Sun. Their purpose is to live happily in the Card World. They only want to cope with the World Weekly and don’t want to continue breaking through. Among them, there are people who marry and have children with local residents. Almost all of them have a happy life with car and houses.”

“The second largest association is the Distant Guild. Their ultimate goal is to return to reality. Their president is called Old Gui and he is a calligrapher. He requires members to keep a distance from the residents of the Card World, in order to adhere to their original intention and not be assimilated here.”

“The third largest association is called Luoying Pavilion and it only accepts female challengers. The president is a very powerful woman and it is said that she killed everyone who provoked her.” Once he said this, he suddenly paused. “I’m trying to save more money for the next Clubs secret room. Alas, it is more tiring to do the World Weekly and continue clearing secret rooms.”

Xiao Lou asked inquisitively, “Why do you have to go back?”

A trace of loss flashed in Old Mo’s eyes. He bowed his head and smiled bitterly. “My daughter had just been admitted to middle school when I had my accident. She is in her teens without a mother and now she has no father. Will she have to get through her university entrance examination and marry alone in the future?”

The three people fell silent at the same time.

This man was really sincere. He sold information to get income and his approach was similar to the Intelligence Bureau. It was just that he worked along and could only find some new people in the city to sell daily life-related information.

Liu Qiao asked, “Uncle, have you thought of joining the Distant Guild?”

Old Mo smiled bitterly. “No, the Distant Guild’s recruitment requirements are very strict. You must have more than two S-grade cards to be eligible to join. Until now, I’ve mostly received an A evaluation when clearing secret rooms. I have a bunch of A-grade cards in my hand but no S.”

Xiao Lou thought it was no wonder the Distant Guild had directly invited him and Yu Hanjiang to join. They had refreshed the world records of 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts. They must’ve passed with an S-grade evaluation and would definitely have more than 2 S-grade cards.

Yu Hanjiang seized the key part in Old Mo’s words. “You mean that in the four secret rooms of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs, you’ve received an A evaluation?”

“Yes, it was just unfortunate that I couldn’t get an S evaluation.”

Xiao Lou reacted to these words. This Old Mo was actually quite strong. He was like some students who had no particularly good or particularly bad subjects. However, if he got good grades in all subjects then his total score would be better than students who were only good in some subjects. What did this mean? The man in front of them had a flexible mind and was knowledgeable.

Xiao Lou was very interested in him and smiled. “Mr Mo, can I ask you what you did in the real world? Of course, this is about your privacy so it doesn’t matter if you don’t answer.”

Old Mo laughed. “When I was young, I did sales. Once I earned enough money, I opened my own home decorating company. In this world, I work part-time at the Xinxin Decorating Company. If you later buy a house and want a designer then you can find me. I will give a 20% discount!”

Xiao Lou’s eyes brightened. The eloquence of a salesperson wasn’t bad. No wonder why Group Leader Yu was moved by his few words and asked for information. A decorating company involved a lot of space design and this Old Mo should have a strong sense of space. It wasn’t a coincidence that his secret room evaluation was A. His 40 years of living left traces of the years on this face and also gave him rich experience.

Moreover, he remembered his daughter and his faith to go back wouldn’t be shaken.

Yu Hanjiang happily handed him the gold coins and said, “Thank you.”

Mo Xuemin smiled and waved. “You’re welcome. I wish the three of you good luck. You can come to me if you have any questions.”

He turned to leave, stopping a couple on the escalator to sell his ‘information business.’

Xiao Lou saw him work so hard and felt sad for a moment.

Liu Qiao sighed. “I can understand his feeling of wanting to go back. My father also loves me and my sister very much. I can see that Old Mo misses his daughter. As a father, he can’t be reassured about her being left alone.”

In this world, he cheekily blocked new people and sold information to make money. Her income every day must be very rich and his brain was flexible from doing sales. Xiao Lou sincerely admired him. It wasn’t easy to hold onto this first heart.

Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou putting the business card away and asked, “You are keeping his business card. Do you want to contact him later?”

Xiao Lou smiled. “We can add a lot of people after the contract book is upgraded. I will keep it first and look at the situation. I think that Old Mo is very good and he has an A-grade evaluation in all secret rooms so his strength isn’t bad. We can consider it.”

Liu Qiao also felt that Old Mo was particularly kind and sincere, much like her father. Unfortunately, he didn’t have two S-grade cards on his body so the Distant Guild wouldn’t accept him. He could only use this method to find a way to earn money.

If Professor Xiao and Group Leader Yu were willing to accept Old Mo then she was very much in favour.

Yu Hanjiang rarely went against Xiao Lou’s decisions. He nodded and said, “Yes, I remember the senior contract book can have up to 15 people. We will first find Chief Shao and Ye Qi before asking Old Mo about the World Weekly and secret rooms. Then if conditions permit, we can add more reliable people to improve our team’s ability.”

Xiao Lou smiled. “Okay, go and find Ye Qi and Shao Qingge.”

The three people walked to the information desk and Xiao Lou politely spoke to the beauty at the information desk. “Hello, can you help us make a broadcast? We were separated from two friends from abroad and can’t find them.”

The beauty said, “Okay. Sir, please write what you need to broadcast on this form.”

A moment later, the gentle voice of the female announcer was heard. “Foreign guests, Mr Shao Qingge and Mr Ye Qi, your friends are waiting for you at the information desk. Please go to the information desk after hearing this broadcast. Thank you.”

This broadcast was repeated twice in a row. Xiao Lou thanked her and patiently waited. However, an hour passed and there were still no signs of Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. Seeing that it was getting late, Xiao Lou broadcast it again at 22 o’clock. The two people didn’t come and he helplessly looked at Yu Hanjiang. “I think we probably missed them.”

Yu Hanjiang slightly frowned. They went to a corner with no one present and he lowered his voice. “The keepers will regular the time. In 4 of Hearts, we need to stay on the train for three days but three days in 4 of Hearts might be only 30 minutes in the main city. There are two possibilities. Either Shao Qingge and Ye Qi have already arrived or they are still in 4 of Hearts.”

Xiao Lou suggested, “Why don’t we settle down first before searching?”

Yu Hanjiang touched his chin and thought, “However, what if they come to the station once we leave? In such a big city, finding two people is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Liu Qiao thought about it. “The Intelligence Bureau will definitely charge an expensive fee to find people and it also only opens on Wednesday. Today is Monday. Did you have a promised place to meet? For example, the central square or the largest coffee store in the city.”

Xiao Lou gently rubbed his forehead and smiled helplessly. “I was indeed too negligent. I thought everyone would be transferred to the same place in the City of the Moon.”

Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, “If we really got separated, perhaps we try searching a place where Shao Qingge would be.”

Xiao Lou’s eyes lit up. “Yes, the underground casino!”

The City of the Moon had the most professional underground casino. Shao Qingge had said as early as 3 of Spades that he would go there to take a look if he had a chance. Thus, if Shao Qingge and Ye Qi couldn’t find them, he might go to the underground casino mentioned previously to wait for them.

Thinking up to here, Xiao Lou immediately exclaimed, “Let’s go now!”

The trio took the taxi to the city’s largest underground casino.

They thought the casino would be a smoky and glamorous place. Unexpectedly, the management here was very formal. The guests going in and out of the casino were well dressed. The reception staff were very handsome and smiled as they opened the door for the group.

The three people entered the casino. The casino had a total of three floors. The first floor was the lobby while and the second and third floors were the private rooms. The hall contained countless card tables. The dealers were wearing white gloves and issuing cards to everyone. None of the players sitting at the card tables made loud noises and their voices were very low. Shao Qingge was sure to like this orderly gaming.

Yu Hanjiang’s eyes quickly swept across the room and then he suddenly turned towards a corner. They saw a handsome man sitting at the card table in the corner. He had chestnut hair tied in a small ponytail and peach blossom eyes. He was smiling and collecting gold coins from the table. “Sorry, I won this game again!”

Next to him sat a teenager, looking to the left and right in an uneasy manner. It was Shao Qingge and Ye Qi! Xiao Lou’s eyes brightened and he walked over, stopping around 10 metres away from the table.

Shao Qingge found them and immediately stood up. “Everybody, I have to go. We will have the opportunity to play together later.”

He took the pile of coins and came up to them. “The two of you finally came. I was waiting.”

Xiao Lou wondered, “When did you come?”

Shao Qinggehad a headache. “We arrived at 8 o’clock in the morning. We waited at the station all morning and became so hungry that I took Ye Qi to eat. In the afternoon, I heard that some people came by plane so we went to the airport to find you… After dinner, I suddenly remembered there was a casino and decided to come here to wait for you.”

Ye Qi came over and muttered in a low voice, “Shao Qingge is too strong. He just played ten games and won hundreds of thousands of gold coins.”

Xiao Lou smiled and gave a thumbs up. “As expected of Chief Shao.”

Yu Hanjiang looked at the time. “It is almost 11 o’clock. “Let’s find a hotel to stay in and speak.”