An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 139 This city needs my purification

"What's wrong?"

Chu Xiu looked at Lin Ji, who was looking surprised, and asked calmly.

"No, no," Lin Ji realized his mistake and quickly tried to cover it up: "I have a cousin in Jiangcheng, and I've also heard of a guy named Ye Junlin who seems quite capable. I never imagined there was such a genius."

Song Linchuan chuckled from the side, "Brother Lin, Brother Chen might not be from our year, so please don't ask any more questions."

Lin Ji also realized that those who could pass the betting game were all high-level professionals, and these professionals would usually participate in the fierce-level trial soon after awakening, because with their talent and resources, staying at the low level would be meaningless.

But the person in front of us may not be an awakener this year, but rather an old awakener who has been accumulating experience for many years.

Thinking of this, a hint of contempt arose in his heart. Only children of the upper class like them knew how huge the gap in resources between classes was, which was an insurmountable chasm for lower-level awakened individuals.

Of course, he couldn't show it; his face still wore a friendly smile.

On second thought, the person in front of him was wearing a mask and a long robe, obviously not wanting to be recognized. Maybe Chen Ce and Jiang Cheng were just something he said casually.

Although Lin Ji didn't particularly like people who hid their true intentions, he still bowed and apologized, saying, "It was my rudeness."

Chu Xiu naturally didn't care, and instead asked, "Did the three of you know each other before?"

He noticed that the three seemed quite familiar with each other as they talked, and couldn't help but ask a question.

Song Linchuan said, "I wouldn't say we know each other, but we've all heard of each other's names to some extent."

Lin Ji laughed and said, "Brother Song is a disciple of a Heavenly King, and classmate Bian is the daughter of a general. I had heard of your great names back in junior high school."

Upon hearing this, Song Linchuan quickly waved his hand: "Brother Lin, please don't make fun of me anymore. In terms of reputation, who doesn't know the third young master of the Lin Group?"

Seeing the two praising each other, Chu Xiu knew exactly what was going on.

This means I've been matched into a high-level game again.

Of the three, he was still the most curious about Song Linchuan. To be accepted as a disciple by the Heavenly King, one must at least have SS-level talent or profession. As for the other two, they might simply be from wealthy families.

Moreover, only Song Linchuan was uninjured. Chu Xiu intuitively felt that in addition to his strength, Song Linchuan's intelligence and temperament were also top-notch, far superior to the average pampered scion of a noble family.

"Stop with the formalities. What we should be thinking about now is how to pass the trial."

At this moment, the aloof girl named Bian Guanyue, who was carrying a long spear, spoke up.

Her words made Lin Ji somewhat embarrassed, while Song Linchuan remained calm and immediately smiled, "Classmate Bian is right. How about I first explain the situation to Brother Chen, and then we can discuss a reasonable countermeasure?"

The other two naturally didn't object, so Song Linchuan started chatting with Chu Xiu.

Before Chu Xiu came out, the three of them should have already completed the exchange of information. Like Chu Xiu, they had all done similar things to interrogate gamblers, and the information they obtained was similar to what Chu Xiu had.

However, there was one thing he didn't know: the death rate of the Death Gamble was actually not high, less than 40%.

Just like the bet with the masked man before, there won't actually be a Grim Reaper to take your life. Instead, you can survive as long as you endure the punishment they call the "Grim Reaper Game".

There are two scenarios here. If the loser cannot pay the chips, he will have to play the Death Game under the constraints of the chain of bets, just like Chu Xiu. In this case, the probability of survival is very small.

However, if there are enough chips, the binding effect of the chain of bets will disappear, and the survival rate will greatly increase.

"In other words, chips are extremely important in gambling. Besides improving your luck, they can almost be considered a second life," Song Linchuan summarized.

Lin Ji nodded: "I've been to casinos a few times with my elders. Gamblers with fewer chips might win a few rounds occasionally, but if they keep gambling, they will inevitably lose in the end. There's a specific principle to explain this situation."

"Furthermore, many games are very disadvantageous to players with few chips. For example, in the popular Texas Hold'em, even if you have a strong hand, you may not be able to call if you don't have enough chips."

“So I have a suggestion, though it might be a bit premature,” Song Linchuan chimed in. “Why don’t we concentrate all our bets on one person first, so that his luck reaches its maximum value without triggering any restrictions, and then let him participate in the gambling?”

"Our first phase can begin with us splitting up to gather intelligence, compiling a list of the gambling games that everyone is good at, and then concentrating our resources to conquer them one by one!"

Song Linchuan's words were met with nods of agreement from Bian Guanyue and Lin Ji, who acknowledged that it was indeed a good suggestion.

Even disregarding the fact that having more chips increases the winning rate, this is still an excellent strategy.

If you're going to fight alone, you must first accumulate chips by winning bets, and then win the bets to advance to the Knight rank in order to pass the trial.

Of course, you could also collect all your chips at the last minute before the time limit expires and teleport away before the Knight Gambler comes looking for trouble, but that would actually make things more unpredictable because the length and difficulty of the game are uncontrollable.

If they unite, all they need to do is have the strongest of the four participate in the Knight's Gamble. If he passes, the remaining three won't have to take any risks. They can simply wait until the time limit expires and redistribute the chips to clear the game together.

Even if they fail, the large amount of capital gives everyone a chance to try again.

Now all three of them looked at Chu Xiu, who had not yet expressed his opinion.

In fact, Chu Xiu didn't mind being carried by others, since he had no confidence in gambling and no interest in showing off in front of others.

Unfortunately, he wanted to take a different path.

"I want to observe the situation in the town first before making a decision," Chu Xiu said.

He didn't rule out any possibility of failure; if his own path didn't work out, Chu Xiu wouldn't mind switching to a cooperative, normal approach.

But this still made Lin Ji frown slightly.

From his perspective, there was no harm in cooperating from any angle, and Chu Xiu's only reason for refusing to cooperate was his distrust of the three of them.

“Brother Chen, you may not know Brother Song well from outside the city,” he said. “Brother Song is one of the personal disciples of the ‘Martial King’ and a strong candidate to challenge the Civilization Envoy.”

"Although it fell a little short in the end, it was still very close."

"For him, the trial is not a dangerous crisis, but an opportunity! He will not stop at the basic tasks, but will move on to higher and more difficult challenges to seek more benefits."

"So you can completely trust Brother Song's abilities and don't need to worry that he will try to take your chips."

Even Bian Guanyue added, unusually, "Student Song's abilities are indeed extraordinary."

Chu Xiu simply nodded calmly: "I understand, but I still want to observe for a while."

Normally, this would be the case given the strength of the Heavenly King's disciples, but since they were matched with Chu Xiu, the difficulty of this dungeon might be beyond their expectations.

“That’s fine,” Song Linchuan said without saying much after hearing his reply. “Then let’s go our separate ways and meet up here again in half an hour?”

No one objected.

However, just before leaving, Lin Ji suddenly asked, "Brother Chen, do you know what a Civilization Envoy is?"

Chu Xiu paused slightly, then shook his head.

He genuinely didn't know what a Civilization Envoy was.

Lin Ji's eyes revealed a knowing look, but there seemed to be a hint of disdain in them. He turned and left.

This made Chu Xiu a little curious. Was this "civilization envoy" some kind of slang?

However, he didn't pay much attention to it and began to explore the gambling city according to his own plan.

There is a steel wall surrounding the four houses, with a gate on one side leading to a fairly wide cement street.

Beside the door, there was a sign that read "Zhao's Gambling House".

Chu Xiu turned around and walked down the cement street. The sky here was pitch black, without any light. The entire town was only lit by oil lamps, and there were no other decorations. The buildings were mostly two or three-story buildings made of gray steel bars and cement, which gave people a desolate and eerie feeling under the illumination of the oil lamps.

In front of these houses, there are basically signs for "XX Casino", and some even have eye-catching slogans such as "Win unlimited surprises at Qianlong Casino!" and "One cent investment, a hundredfold return!"

It is common to see tourists being drawn into casinos.

However, tourists are only a small part; most are gamblers who wander around like zombies or simply lie down on the roadside. These gamblers have all sorts of strange appearances, some with dark red skin and long tails on their backs, and some who are three meters long and have faces like demons.

However, at this moment, these creatures seemed to have lost their minds, their eyes were lifeless, and they just lay stiffly on the roadside, occasionally twitching.

“These must be gamblers of slave and vagrant level; only commoner gamblers can own houses.”

"This is a town built for gambling. Every house is a gambling den, and anyone who enters can participate."

Chu Xiu knew what was going on and continued forward, quickly exploring the entire town. The town wasn't large, covering only about four or five square kilometers. Besides gamblers and tourists, there were many creatures known as "gambling slaves." These guys seemed to have lost their souls in the gambling games, thus becoming unreliable, tireless tools.

They planted crops and built houses around the city, and were arguably the city's main source of labor.

In the city, there are two magnificent, large buildings with people coming and going in front of them, which form a stark contrast to the surrounding cluster of small, unfinished houses that are only two or three stories high.

These are the place to exchange for Paradise Grass and the brothel, respectively.

Wearing only a few slivers of clothing, the woman with a hot figure swayed her hips in front of the door, boldly enticing passing gamblers. Some gamblers couldn't resist touching her before even entering the house, and some even went so far as to exchange some "ecstasy" (a type of herbal medicine) before going in.

"Goodness, now they've got it all: prostitution, gambling, and drugs."

Chu Xiu found it somewhat amusing.

However, these three things have always coexisted and complemented each other since ancient times.

Chu Xiu also saw Bian Guanyue, but the girl only glanced at him from afar before walking away with a cold face.

Further away is the Baron's castle, where only a few high-ranking tourists or skilled gamblers are invited in. It is also the residence of gamblers of knight rank and above.

Now Chu Xiu understood the situation.

Just as he was pondering where to begin, a scream suddenly came from the brothel not far away. He looked up and saw a gambler lying in the blood, with a knife wound on his neck, from which blood was gushing out continuously. However, instead of covering the wound, he was tightly gripping the newly changed Ecstasy grass!

The assailant cursed and chopped off both of the gambler's hands with another blow. Then he grabbed the bag containing the herb of ecstasy, and without caring that the two severed hands were still hanging on it, he ran away.

However, before he could run a few steps, a sharp whooshing sound rang out, and then a long spear pierced through his body.

The man was pinned to the ground, and before he died, he trembled as he tried to grab a handful of Bliss Grass, but before he could open the bag, a large foot covered in heavy armor stepped on his palm, crushing his hand bones.

This was a fully armed, three-meter-tall giant. His dark green eyes, visible through his helmet, revealed a look of disdain. He said coldly, "Hurry up and clean this up. Don't let these filthy things spoil the guests' enjoyment."

As he finished speaking, several more figures landed and began moving the corpses on the ground.

Chu Xiu silently observed this scene, knowing that this was the city's patrol and guard team.

In a world that worships the God of Gamblers, the act of acquiring items through means other than gambling is highly despised, and the regulatory measures are extremely strict.

These patrol teams are scattered throughout the town's streets and alleys. They are usually a small team consisting of a fierce-ranked soldier and several warrior-ranked soldiers. They are well-equipped, with any piece of equipment being at least of the [Excellent] level. There are at least forty or fifty such teams.

"Including the four knights, the knight and the baron himself, and their notary, it would still be very risky to try to kill them head-on."

Chu Xiu has completely grasped the current situation.

"However, as long as I'm quick enough, I can still succeed in snatching it without alerting anyone!"

With that in mind, he no longer hesitated and officially began to take action.

He chose a secluded house with few people and went inside.

"Welcome, welcome! What would you like to do?"

As soon as he entered the house, he heard a warm greeting. It was a lizardman hiding behind a bulletproof glass, rubbing his hands together, his yellow-green pupils flashing with eagerness.

"We offer all types of games, including small, specially designed games! Absolutely thrilling and exciting, we guarantee your satisfaction!"

Chu Xiu glanced at the lizardman, his gaze darkening slightly. He noticed the alarm device connected to the bulletproof glass, which would automatically sound an alarm if the glass were broken.

What are some of the unique gambling games like?

Chu Xiu said, and then sat down.

Upon hearing this, the lizardman pressed a button beside him. Immediately, with a piercing metallic scraping sound, the steel plate on the ground in front of Chu Xiu slowly separated, revealing another large space underground, like a cage, with a dark, downward-sloping rock cave in the very center of the cage.

The lizardman clapped his hands again, and the steel plate on Chu Xiu's side rose up, revealing a filthy compartment. Inside were several humanoid creatures of different races chained together. In front of each of them was an iron bowl containing a pool of viscous, yellowish-green liquid.

When the steel plate rose, some of these people showed fear, but most were completely numb and desperate.

“I call this bet ‘Pain Maggots.’” The lizardman’s eyes immediately lit up with excitement as he spoke of his bet.

"As you can see, this is a cave that slopes downwards. At first, the entrance is very wide, even a three-meter-tall rock giant can get in, but it gets narrower and narrower as you go further in."

"And beside you are the gamblers who have given their bodies to me. I have kept them here all this time. They don't know the details of the gambling game, and they have never seen what a gambling game looks like."

"Guest, you can choose a player you like. Once the game starts, he/she will be placed in the burrow and all the lights will be turned off. Then I will release a giant wolfsbane spider to chase after him/her. What we are betting on is how many meters that player/herself can go into the burrow."

The lizardman enthusiastically explained to Chu Xiu, "We have installed high-definition night vision cameras in every corner of the cave. You can observe the contestants in the pitch black as they enter a narrow, increasingly desperate passage where they can only move forward and cannot turn back."

"As the spiders approached and the burrow narrowed, they had to constantly squeeze their bodies in fear and pain to get deeper into the burrow."

"I will tell them before the match that there is an exit in the cave. As long as they can get through, I will let them live. What kind of motivation will these refugees unleash under the desire to survive? Isn't that something to look forward to! And to enjoy such a performance that you can never see anywhere else, you only need an entrance fee of three chips!"

At this point, the lizardman almost jumped up with excitement. For him, this was the greatest stimulation besides the bliss grass, even surpassing the tormentors in the brothel.

Even Chu Xiu was somewhat surprised; he, a demonic cultivator, had never imagined that such torturous tricks existed.

"So, is there an exit at the end of the cave?" Chu Xiu asked curiously.

“Of course there are. I can’t lie about the rules, not even to these lowly vagrants,” the lizardman chuckled. “But even if it’s not a dead end, no one can get through. The rocks in the cave are incredibly solid, and eventually they shrink to just a little bigger than a head and fold upwards. That means contestants would have to break their spines to squeeze through.”

"Of course, they don't need to go that deep. As long as they go 37 meters, you win and I will give you five chips. If they reach the fold, I will give you an extra five."

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiu glanced down.

Because the tunnel slopes downwards, the interior is completely visible. At the 37-meter mark, the tunnel is about the width of a seven- or eight-year-old child's shoulder. Theoretically, anyone with a slender build could squeeze through.

However, Chu Xiu knew that this gamble was definitely full of traps, because there was only one perspective and many hidden places in the cave could not be seen clearly. Sometimes, the cave did not need to be very narrow, but as long as it formed a structure that did not conform to the human body, it could trap a person firmly.

As Chu Xiu pondered, the lizardman's voice rang out again: "I suggest you choose humans, sir. Although they may lack willpower, their skin is very smooth, and you can also spend extra chips to buy them roller skating oil, searchlights, and other items."

"What are you still hesitating for? Such a wonderful performance is worth it even if you lose, isn't it?"

Faced with the lizardman's persuasion, Chu Xiu gently clapped his fingers, as if waiting for something. After a while, he smiled and said, "I'll take the bet."

The lizardman's eyes lit up immediately: "Press the button in front of the stage to sign the bet. Which contestant would you like to choose, sir?"

"I choose," Chu Xiu's finger swept over several naked refugees, and everyone pointed at showed a look of horror.

However, in the end, Chu Xiu's hand suddenly shifted and landed on the lizardman.

"I choose you."

The lizardman was stunned. Before he could speak, a large number of phantoms suddenly rushed out of the ventilation shaft behind him! In the blink of an eye, they materialized and swarmed forward, tearing the three notaries next to the lizardman to shreds in an instant!

The lizardman let out a scream of shock and rage and lunged at the alarm device, but before he could get close, a ferocious demon severed both his legs.

Then, the evil spirits split into two groups. One group began searching the lizardmen's house, while the other group tore open the steel plates, threw the lizardmen into the hole, and then opened the cage where the poisonous spiders were imprisoned.

This was a spider three times the size of an adult's hand, brightly colored with black and yellow stripes. As soon as it was released, it was like a crawling giant's hand, tracking the lizardman as it crawled deeper into the burrow.

Not long after, the lizardman's desperate cries came from the depths of the cave, and Chu Xiu turned and left the casino without even looking back.

He had no interest in the lizardman's fate; he only cared about how much leverage this guy had. Talking to him for so long was just to create enough time for the evil spirits to infiltrate.

As for those poor refugees, he had no intention of rescuing them; releasing them would only bring unforeseen complications.

but
Chu Xiu frowned slightly as he glanced at the few refugees who were kept in cages, shirtless and only able to eat liquid food.

"Although I'm not a good person."

But I think...

"This city needs my purification!"

A long chapter of nearly 6,000 words has been updated! Requesting monthly votes for the new month!

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(End of this chapter)