Chapter 269 The Bizarre Gambling Den: Auctioning Off Blood-Sickness-Induced Worms!
Just as Duan Rongshi was about to say something, Li Qingluo quickly pulled Zheng Mama and said, "It's alright, let's go quickly."
Not wanting to cause any trouble, she quickly followed Prince Su across the street and then swaggered into the gambling den.
Li Qingluo was dressed in an androgynous manner, and with several tall and imposing young men by her side, no one noticed her as soon as she stepped into the gambling den, so she easily blended in.
This was Li Qingluo's first time in such a place, and everything she saw was very new and even strange.
Several tables were set up in the lobby.
At each table, stunningly beautiful women dressed in incredibly sexy attire personally deal the cards or roll the dice.
Waiters came and went, carrying trays on which were placed fine wines or food.
But this gambling den wasn't just a place of chaotic gambling; there were also scenes of half-naked women lying in the arms of men...
Before Li Qingluo could take a second look, someone covered her eyes with a wide sleeve.
"What are you looking at? Is it something interesting?"
Duan Rongshi said in a low, menacing voice, "If you look at me again, I'll gouge out your eyes."
Li Qingluo: ……
Although he is a prince, is he meddling too much?
And once she's inside the gambling den, does she expect to walk around blindfolded?
Li Qingluo was so angry that she wanted to pry his arm off so she could get a better look, but Prince Su suddenly made up his mind. He grabbed Li Qingluo's arm and completely covered her in his sleeve. Then the group quickly left the hall and went up to the second floor.
Granny Zheng could only stare in astonishment several times, watching helplessly.
Is His Highness Prince Su being too intimate with her daughter in his words and actions?
Is this something an old woman like her should be able to see?
ah? ?
How is she going to explain this to the old lady when she gets back?
And why couldn't that guy, Lao Deng, have given her a warning beforehand, so that she could at least be mentally prepared?
Good heavens, her heart almost stopped beating just now.
She now reasonably suspects that the men's shoes the girl 'picked up' last time belonged to His Highness Prince Su!
Nangong Di, with his hands behind his back, saw his disciple being controlled by Prince Su, but he showed no intention of intervening. Instead, he calmly walked and looked around, and even continued to look around on the second-floor corridor.
After watching with great interest for a while, Nangong Di said, "I have never seen such a scene in any gambling den before. It is a gambling den, but it is also like a brothel. There is a restaurant upstairs and an inn in the back. It is indeed quite rare."
"The person behind this gambling den is quite interesting, managing to combine these various businesses into one."
At this moment, Li Qingluo and the others had already entered an empty room.
Hearing that it was so lively, Li Qingluo couldn't help but want to go out and see for herself.
Seeing the anxious look on her face, Duan Rongshi reached out to stop her, "What's the rush? You'll have plenty of time to watch later."
After he finished speaking, he took a serious look at Nangong Di. This man's knowledge and vigilance were not to be underestimated.
The shopkeeper finally came over with a big smile to greet him, "Oh, it's Master Yue! There were so many people downstairs, I didn't even have time to see you properly before I came up here."
"It was my fault for neglecting you, Fifth Master, and for not having time to greet you. Please forgive me."
"Since it's Fifth Master, shall we go to the VIP table? We've already reserved a spot for you."
Then he led Li Qingluo and the others to a VIP room where they could see everything in the hall downstairs from the open window.
"May I ask what kind of service Fifth Master would like today? Would you like to play a few rounds at a small table, or have a few drinks? Or perhaps I could call some maids to serve you distinguished guests?"
Li Qingluo understood instantly.
The waiter was asking them whether they wanted to gamble, drink, or visit prostitutes.
She felt a surge of excitement; this was the first time in her life she had ever witnessed such a scene.
She wished Prince Su would call out all of these things so that she could see them for herself today.
But while her excitement was still palpable, Prince Su rejected them all.
"Serve tea."
The shopkeeper's smile froze instantly.
"Fifth Master, you have always been known for your integrity, yes, yes..."
If they are so untouched by worldly affairs, why would they come to this place?
Leng Dian snapped, "What are you standing there for? Just bring whatever I tell you to bring! Besides tea and snacks, bring some fruit too, isn't that enough?"
"Our master knew that there was an auction at your Lisboa today, so he came to watch the excitement. If he likes something, he will make a purchase. He certainly won't take up your space for nothing!"
After saying that, Leng Dian tossed out a large ingot of silver, and the waiter, his face now plastered with a flattering smile, quickly left.
Li Qingluo: "Auction? What auction?"
Zhuiyu explained, "This casino in Lisboa holds an auction every three months."
“All the items up for auction are rare and unusual.”
"Sometimes it's a few stunningly beautiful women from the Central Asian region, sometimes it's gold and silver jewelry that no one in the world has ever seen, sometimes it's just a few precious paintings and calligraphic works, but sometimes it's rare creatures or plants that have never been seen by anyone in the world and have been salvaged from the sea."
"Another time, it was a wolf cub that grew up with wolves. It was extremely powerful and was captured by our prince."
"However, it is still kept in our palace and has not been released to the public yet."
“There are even stranger things, such as hand soap, glass mirrors, cement... These strange things have all been auctioned.”
Li Qinglu was astonished: "So amazing?"
She had actually heard of soap before; her grandmother had even given her a few bars.
I've heard that glass mirrors are even more powerful, reflecting people more realistically than bronze mirrors.
Cement is said to be able to be used to build the strongest houses in the world.
These things were not widely available, so Li Qingluo had only heard about them.
I never imagined they all came from this casino in Lisboa.
Li Qingluo was becoming increasingly curious about who this boss was.
"Who exactly is capable of doing this?"
Duan Rongshi: "A genius who is too bizarre and astonishing can also be called a monster."
It seems that His Highness Prince Su dislikes the owner behind this gambling den.
Zhuiyu: "I heard that the owner of this gambling den will be showing up today, so Your Highness brought the young lady here."
So that's what it was?
When Li Qingluo looked at Duan Rong, she couldn't help but smile slightly.
Duan Rongshi frowned deeply: "Don't laugh, it's ugly."
Li Qingluo: "..."
Just then, the sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments began to fill the air.
Hearing the noise outside, Zhuiyu quickly said, "It seems to have started."
Looking out the window again, I saw that the gambling table had been completely removed at some point.
There were no more unclean scenes that Li Qingluo could no longer bear to see; the place had been completely cleared away.
All the guests have moved to the sides.
There are a total of eight VIP rooms on the second floor. Apart from the one for Li Qingluo and his group, the other seven rooms are all fully occupied.
Zhuiyu suddenly noticed: "Your Highness, Prince Yun and Prince Jin have both arrived. It seems they came together."
Prince Jin is the third prince, and his birth mother is currently only a concubine.
Therefore, even though Prince Jin was the elder brother, he was always used to being humble and subservient to the fourth prince, who was born of the legitimate wife.
"And the eldest son of the Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion."
"Two members of the Qu family also came."
"The Grand Prince Consort is here too?"
Anyway, the VIP rooms on the second floor are all very prestigious.
Li Qinglu thought to herself: It's really lively, almost everyone has gathered.
There is only one side room, and the doors and windows are still tightly closed. No one knows what's inside.
Duan Rongshi sneered: "In a few days, it will be my fourth brother's birthday. He's here to join in the fun this time. I'm afraid he's got his eye on something good and is waiting for someone to bid for it for him."
The Prince of Jin's mother was a merchant's daughter, while the princess he married was the eldest daughter of the Qu family.
Therefore, although Prince Jin did not have a high status, he was definitely the wealthiest among all the princes.
Prince Yun only began to have close relations with Prince Jin after Prince Jin married his princess.
As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion broke out below.
It turns out that these are the items to be auctioned today, and they have finally been brought up.
Everything was arranged and placed in the lobby.
One by one, the treasures were finally unveiled.
Today there is a sword inlaid with jewels, pink stones, ladyboys from Siam, and an exquisite wine jug from the Western Regions.
The most eye-catching and mysterious item placed in the very center was a huge iron cage.
Inside the iron cage, there was only one square object covered with a black cloth.
When the black cloth was lifted, the four sides turned out to be an iron cage, and inside the iron cage was a transparent glass bottle the size of a spittoon!
There was a pinkish thing inside the glass bottle. Before anyone could even see it clearly, someone shouted, "What is that?! It's moving!"
Pink, boneless fleshy worms!
Li Qingluo immediately reacted and looked at Nangong Di.
"Master, is it that thing?!"
Nangong Di: "You mean the worm that caused the berserk blood disease and was taken away by the Western Region witch?"
The master and apprentice were speaking in cryptic language, but Duan Rongshi couldn't understand it.
He looked at Li Qingluo: "Do you know what this is?"
Li Qingluo: "Your Highness, I will explain in detail later. But the contents of this jar may be the source of the strange illness that the old Duke's family contracted!"
"There should be a witch by the old Duke's side. This witch took this worm away from a village full of mad blood disease more than 30 years ago."
"Later, this witch followed the old Duke. This time, the old Duke was taken away by Pei San. I heard that it was just the two of them, but the witch disappeared without a trace."
"Now this worm is here, but where is the witch?"
Duan Rongshi: "You mean, if we capture this witch, we can find out what exactly is going on with the old Duke's madness?"
"Also, this insect must not fall into the hands of just anyone."
Li Qingluo: "That's right! If someone accidentally ingests the eggs of this insect, they will contract a mad blood disease that is absolutely incurable."
"If you want to live, you will become like the old Duke, neither human nor ghost, unable to control your craving for human blood and also needing to take pills made from the blood of the opposite sex."
"However, every day of his life may be controlled by his insane symptoms."
Both Zhuiyu and Shalei turned pale upon hearing this.
"What is this thing? It's so powerful!"
"If we fall into enemy hands, wouldn't it be an easy way for them to harm us?"
That's true.
If someone wanted to use this to harm someone, it would be incredibly easy.
But in all these years in Nanjing, I haven't heard of anyone else suffering from this disease.
Li Qingluo suddenly realized, "Wait a minute! Could this gambling den belong to that witch?"
Otherwise, how could this insect be put up for auction?
Unless the witch has switched allegiance to someone else, or the worm was stolen, or the witch is dead, and thus the worm ended up in this gambling den.
However, because the insect was so disgusting, it seemed like nobody wanted it at first.
It wasn't until a masked young man dressed in all black with a high ponytail walked out and clapped his hands, instantly attracting everyone's attention, that Duan Rongshi said, "He's here."
Li Qingluo: "Who?"
Duan Rongshi: "The real owner behind this gambling den."
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