Chapter 448: Chapter 384: Ginseng Puppet
Soon, a line of people stopped in front of a wooden house on the street, hanging in front of the house was a wooden signboard with four gold characters: Xinlong Gambling House.
"We’re here." Cheng Cha looked up at the signboard, lowered his voice, and reminded, "Don’t talk nonsense once we’re inside. If someone tries to chat with you, just ignore them. Nine out of ten bets result in losses, and in this gambling house, we have absolutely no chance to win. The best outcome we can hope for is a draw."
Yang Xiao somewhat understood that coming here, knowing it was impossible to win, was necessary to exchange the toys in their hands for gambling house tickets, which could then be exchanged for money at the money house. This was an essential part of the task that couldn’t be circumvented.
As they stepped through the gambling house’s doors, the inside was filled with swirling smoke, some people puffing on dry pipes, and others lying on the ground inhaling opium paste. There was only one gambling table in the house, currently surrounded by people with bloodshot eyes intently staring at the dice cups.
Upon seeing newcomers enter, the gamblers who had lost everything immediately pressed in, clamoring to borrow their toys, promising to return them double the amount after they turned the tables on their fortune. However, Yang Xiao and his companions completely ignored them, as gamblers were known to lack credibility.
Elbowing their way to the gambling table, Yang Xiao discovered that the game being played was the simple act of throwing dice, with players betting on high or low. To the left side of the gambling table, the red area was inscribed with the character "big." Yet, this area was further divided into three small sections, marked with the numbers 4, 5, 6, respectively. The corresponding green area to the right was inscribed with the character "small" and also split into sections with the numbers 1, 2, 3. Bets were made by placing the toys on any number on either side.
Yang Xiao had never seen such a gambling setup before, but he watched as Cheng Cha skillfully pulled out a cloth tiger from his bosom and placed it on the number 6 in the red area.
The host of the gambling game was an elderly man with a mustache. Seeing them place their bets, he immediately brightened with a smile, picked up the dice cup, and vigorously shook it, calling out non-stop, "Place your bets and hands off, no regrets once the dice are dropped, open!"
With a single command of "open," the dice cup slammed down onto the gambling table. In that instant, all eyes were fixated on it. Once the cup was lifted, inside was only a single die showing "1 point, small!"
The next second, the cloth tiger was taken away, Cheng Cha didn’t even look back; he simply turned around and left, with Yang Xiao and the others following suit. It was only after leaving the gambling house that Cheng Cha slowly began to explain that this was all within expectations. According to the pattern they had summed up from last time, the first entrance to the gambling establishment would always result in a loss, followed by three consecutive draws and then another loss—basically, they would never win.
"Could there be some kind of pattern inside?" Sui Chengguo asked, "There might actually be a way to win, but it requires a certain level of gambling skills."
Hearing this, Cheng Cha shook his head, "Perhaps, but we haven’t found it. Last time, someone on our team who was deeply knowledgeable in this field watched for three rounds and still couldn’t discern the trick."
Not long after they left, the group stopped yet again; this time they had arrived at the money house. Unfortunately, the doors of the money house were firmly closed, and a sign indicating the business was closed hung upfront.
"It’s closed?" Mi Shu was somewhat surprised.
"Yes, it was set up for us. Since we’ve lost the only chip we could exchange, there’s no need for this money house to open," Cheng Cha said as he looked at another sign in front of the door that listed today’s exchange rates: one pellet drum for ten ingots of gold, one ingot of gold for ten ingots of silver, one ingot of silver for one hundred copper coins.
"The exchange rates aren’t fixed; you’ll understand the next time," Cheng Cha said, lifting his foot to continue walking forward.
By the time everyone had taken their places, a cloth store had appeared on the street side, with the same closed sign hung up, and another wooden plaque that read: "Honest business, fair to all ages, small transactions, one clothes, one ingot of silver."
It seemed Cheng Cha was right; these few places were closely connected. The gambling house only accepted entertainers’ toys, the money house only accepted bills issued by the gambling house, and the cloth store only accepted actual silver from the money house. The three shops were linked in a chain, indispensable from one another.
After confirming nothing had been overlooked, the three of them pushed through the bustling crowd to the end of the street. Along the way, they had seen too many inexplicable scenes to be surprised anymore: groups circling together to urinate and make mud, naked bodies crawling chaotically on the streets—the entire town had plunged into madness.
At the end of the street was a grand mansion, which looked very affluent. Strangely, instead of stone lions, there were two plump stone children, one standing and one squatting, flanking the entrance. The standing child had a red silk ribbon tied around its waist, and the squatting one had a small flower perched on top of its head, which was also dyed red. Both children looked lively, yet staring at them for too long gave one a subtly sinister feeling.
"Are these two children the Ginseng Puppets?" Yang Xiao asked in a low voice.
Cheng Cha nodded, walked to the mansion’s main gate, and without knocking, pushed directly. The gate wasn’t locked, just slightly ajar, and it opened with a push, the hinges emitting an ear-piercing screech, as if the door hadn’t been opened for a long time.
"What is this place?" Tong Han asked cautiously. In the center of the courtyard stood an incense burner with a thick stick of incense inserted into it, the tip burning and giving off wafts of fragrant smoke.
"This is the residence of the Ginseng-Patrolling Elder in the town. This town was built around ginseng. The Elder’s word is law here, and his status is extremely revered." Cheng Cha led everyone around the mansion and reminded them, "Everyone, remember the layout of this place carefully. In the span of one stick of incense, we will begin our mission in this mansion. The goal is to find the Ginseng Puppet that has become an essence. It might shapeshift into anything, but one thing will not change—there will be a bit of red on it. This is because the Ginseng Essence has consumed too many people and blossomed a blood-red poisonous flower. This flower is made of Evil Qi, and even the Ginseng Essence cannot completely hide it."
"How are we supposed to find it if it can shapeshift into anything?" Mi Shu furrowed his brows. Although the mansion was not as large as the Du Family Ancestral Home, it was still a considerable size. If their foe turned into something as inconspicuous as a stone or a blade of grass, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"No, the objects it turns into are quite substantial, at least the size of a child aged seven or eight. We once found it when it had shapeshifted into a large grinding stone, and the red flower was disguised as a basket of red beans on the grindstone," recalled Cheng Cha.
The group quickly made a round of the mansion and returned to where they started, facing the incense burner, whose stick of incense was about to burn out.
"Let me repeat, once you find the Ginseng Essence, do not rashly approach to tie the Red String around it. First, shout ’Mallet’ in that direction. Upon hearing those two words, the Ginseng Essence will immediately be immobilized, and its form will change. Then you can approach and tie it with the Red String, and it will not be able to run away."
"But be careful—the shouting must be within 5 meters; beyond that, it’s useless and may even startle it. It’s best to approach within 3 meters for added certainty," Cheng Cha emphasized. "Also, once immobilized, the Ginseng Essence will stop all movements and pose no threat to us, so you can safely proceed to tie the string."
"How many times can we shout ’Mallet’?" Yang Xiao asked what seemed to be crucial; he suspected there would be limitations. Otherwise, if they spread out and shouted along the way, they would eventually call out the Ginseng Essence. This task wouldn’t leave such a big loophole for them to exploit.
Hearing this, Cheng Cha’s expression turned odd, and he looked at Yang Xiao. "There’s no limit to how many times you can shout, but if you call out the wrong thing, you will summon something else, and that would be truly deadly."
