As the elevator doors quietly opened, the scene on the second floor was revealed to the two of them.
Compared to the lobby on the first floor, the space here is much larger. The first thing you see is a stage with a black curtain drawn, and the seats below are packed with tourists, leaving only two seats in the very center of the first row.
A waiter stood guard outside the elevator door, smiled and glanced at the red chips in the two people's hands, then bowed deeply in a polite manner.
"Dear distinguished guest."
His tone of voice was quite peculiar, with highs and lows, sounding like he was chanting: "Welcome to the second floor of Miracle Casino. To thank you for your spending, please hold onto your chips and take your seats in the VIP section to enjoy the free show we are offering."
Free performance?
Xiao Cheng was slightly taken aback, then turned to exchange a glance with Fang He, and they both saw the same meaning in each other's eyes.
Given the unscrupulous nature of the merchants here, how could they possibly offer something for free?
The waiter remained bowed, quietly awaiting their response.
"Shall we go take a look?" Xiao Cheng communicated with Fang He silently through her eyes.
Fang He responded with a look: "Let's go take a look."
The elevator doors closed behind them the moment they stepped out.
The waiter breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief and directed them toward the audience seats.
As soon as he sat down, the audience around him burst into enthusiastic applause, and then the curtain was drawn back, and bright lights shone down.
Two monkeys dressed in formal attire walked out side by side, all the way to the center of the stage, where they very gentlemanly removed their hats to greet the audience.
The cheers and applause grew louder and louder. Xiao Cheng had a bad feeling. Just as she was about to say something to Fang He, someone suddenly pressed down hard on her shoulder.
The audience member sitting to her right turned his head and stared at her with a gloomy look, his face appearing deathly pale in the light.
“Please refrain from speaking,” he warned coldly. “Please respect every program, this distinguished guest.”
He glanced meaningfully at the chips Xiao Cheng was holding, then turned his head back to look at the monkeys on the stage with a blank expression, clapping and cheering them loudly.
It's like someone with a split personality.
Xiao Cheng glanced at him out of the corner of her eye for a while, but didn't see him make any other moves, so she simply shifted her attention back to the stage.
The two monkeys jumped and frolicked for a long time before ending with a deep bow.
Then one of them went back to the backstage, and not long after, a colorful spinning wheel that was taller than a person was pushed up.
Next to the turntable was an iron frame, on which a black cloth strip was draped, and a large bunch of throwing knives were tied loosely.
As the music started, the atmosphere reached another climax, with two monkeys swaying their bodies to the beat of the drums, looking quite comical.
"Spin the wheel of life and death!" one of the monkeys suddenly shouted.
The audience below shouted in unison, "Spin the wheel of life and death!"
"Lucky audience member!" the monkey shouted even more excitedly, as a bright spotlight moved to the audience seats and swayed back and forth to the beat of the music.
Xiao Cheng's ominous premonition grew stronger until the music ended and the spotlight focused on her...
The spot next to it.
It's Fang He.
"Wow—" the monkey on stage exclaimed exaggeratedly, clapping excitedly, "It's the VIP section! Please welcome them—"
"Distinguished guest! Distinguished guest! Distinguished guest!"
The cheers from the audience were so loud they could practically lift the roof off.
Fang He stood up calmly, patted Xiao Cheng's hand reassuringly, and then walked towards the stage.
Xiao Cheng sat silently in his seat, clutching the chips that had just been handed to him.
"What do you need me to do in return? Tie you to a spinning wheel, then blindfold me and throw knives?"
He looked down at the two monkeys.
The monkeys didn't answer immediately. They circled him from both sides for a while, looking him over, before nodding in satisfaction.
“You’ve got it backwards, esteemed guest.” One of them bounced around, unlocking the shackles on the spinning wheel, and made an inviting gesture. “Cooperate with us to complete this performance. If we succeed, you will receive…”
"get--"
It drew out the words mysteriously until the audience below impatiently added in unison, "Three hundred gold coins!"
"Yes, you will receive three hundred gold coins." The monkey casually held up three hairy fingers.
"Then I should also have the right to refuse, right?" Fang He countered.
"Of course, as a VIP, you have the right to refuse. However, as punishment for wasting everyone's expectations, you need to compensate everyone present... three hundred gold coins each."
Such stringent conditions were not unexpected for Fang He.
"That doesn't sound like a good deal," he sighed helplessly. "So there's nothing we can do."
He walked toward the turntable, letting the two monkeys relock the shackles on it.
"It's very sturdy, isn't it?"
The two monkeys chuckled mischievously. One of them hopped around, picked up a black cloth strip, blindfolded itself, spun around dozens of times, and then wobbled as it took the throwing knife from the other monkey's hand.
The audience erupted in cheers once again, each wave louder than the last.
"Spin the wheel of life and death! Spin the wheel of life and death!"
They watched with ecstatic joy as the monkey threw the flying knife.
A muffled thud.
The blade gleamed with a cold, eerie light as it cleanly pierced through Fang He's right palm and embedded itself deeply into the turntable.
Crimson blood gushed out from the cut, seeping onto the surface of the turntable, meandering downwards and leaving shallow blood grooves.
"Oh dear, the knife went astray, what a pity."
The monkey who threw the knife listened intently to the commotion in the audience and said, not very sincerely.
Then, it immediately threw a second knife.
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