Chapter 339: Meeting an Old Friend in a Foreign Land

The man put down the wine glass in his hand, fished a silk scarf from his suit pocket, and wiped the blood seeping from the wound on his forehead in a leisurely manner.

At the same time, the Gambler, having returned to its seat, emptied all the wine glasses of Betan, Mei Lin, and itself, picked up the wine bottle, and refilled them.

"I designate you to be the next one to toss the coin." The man stuffed the blood-stained handkerchief back into his pocket and reached out to point at Mei Lin.

Mei Lin and Betan exchanged a glance and nodded silently.

Whether it was the Chinese woman of unknown origin, or this weird man who had changed his temperament and seemed like a different person after being cracked open, or even the weird event itself called the "Gambler," everything was shrouded in heavy fog, and the truth was elusive.

No matter what they wanted to do, the top priority was to determine the winner as soon as possible and end this game so they could escape the constraints of the Gambler's rules.

Thinking of this, Mei Lin took a deep breath to calm herself down and pinched a copper coin between her fingers.

"Young lady, you must not have anything happen to you..."

The man pressed on his skull, his eyes pointing toward the viewing platform with the curtain drawn, and smiled: "Shall we chat?"

"Let's chat." Ning Zhe readily agreed. The two left their seats one after another and came to the outer perimeter of the viewing platform, separated by a curtain.

Betan had the intention to go and listen to what they were going to say, but he wasn't allowed to leave the gambling table now and could only watch the two "losers" leave the field.

Fen Wu came to the edge of the viewing platform, leaned against the railing, and fished a pack of cigarettes from his chest: "Want one?"

"I don't smoke." Ning Zhe shook his head and declined.

"That's good, smoking is harmful to health." Fen Wu lit a cigarette for himself, took a deep breath, and exhaled a hazy mist from his lungs: "It's a good thing for a Gridder to know how to cherish their own body. After all, the body is the capital of revolution."

"Thank you for your advice," Ning Zhe shrugged: "It would be even better if the person saying this wasn't a lunatic who thinks about taking my life all day long."

Fen Wu couldn't hold back his laughter, laughing so hard that cigarette ash kept shaking off his fingers, and the skull worn on his head was about to slide off.

"Is it that funny?" Ning Zhe was somewhat puzzled.

"Sorry, haha. Seeing you wearing my wife's face and talking to me in this yin-yang weird tone, I can't help but want to laugh." Fen Wu held the cigarette in one hand and pressed the skull that was about to slide off with the other, unable to hold back his laughter: "My wife's family has a more traditional style, which leads to her personality being both conservative and shy. She isn't very good at joking with people."

"Same here." Ning Zhe nodded, looked down at his chest which was bulging, and said: "Then should I change my identity to chat with you?"

"No need, this is fine." Fen Wu restrained the smile on his face and said: "Just like I said before, I think you're not bad. It would be even better if we weren't enemies."

"I hope so." Ning Zhe replied indifferently.

Fen Wu took a deep breath of the cigarette, scanned the empty spectator seats and dance floor below with unfocused eyes, and continued: "To be honest, we don't necessarily have to fight to the death. Although the possibility of turning hostility into friendship is not high, it exists after all, doesn't it?"

"Is that so?" Ning Zhe raised his eyebrows: "How so?"

"Because from beginning to end, all I need is Zhao You," Fen Wu said without turning his head to look at him: "My luck is very poor, you know this. Therefore, I need Zhao You's rules of seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster to make up for this defect. I must obtain Him; this is a necessary condition for me to continue walking on this path of ascension."

"So you released Te Rang at the Bishuiwan Manor, set an ambush at the Chenyu Valley Prison to try to kill me, and now you've even chased me abroad." Ning Zhe frowned: "Three strikes and you're out. This is already the third time you've made a move against me. Why do you think I would let it go?"

"Because our core interests don't actually conflict," Fen Wu said indifferently: "Zhao You has already been stripped away from you by the Gambler, hasn't He? But you are still alive, still standing in front of me safe and sound."

"A Gridder's life is fragile. We keep mastering new supernatural entities, making up for old defects, and then creating new defects, driving us to continue looking for the next rule that can prolong our lives. We are exhausted, endless... The rules, linked ring by ring, bite at the defects, extending that thorny path called ascension. This is a fragile path; even if you take one wrong step, you will be doomed."

Ning Zhe understood what he meant.

A Gridder's life is built on a chain of rules linked ring by ring. Every link is indispensable, just like a sturdy iron chain that will break if any link is missing. Once the rule system built by a Gridder with multiple fierce ghosts loses any one of them, it will lead to the collapse of the entire system.

But Ning Zhe didn't.

The Gambler took Zhao You away, yet he was still alive, living well, without any sign of dying from the backlash of the rules.

"You actually don't need Zhao You, do you?" Fen Wu said faintly.

Ning Zhe didn't say a word, neither admitting nor denying it.

"I don't know what happened in He Village, but I can probably guess it," Fen Wu finished the remaining half of the cigarette, threw it to his feet, and stepped on it to extinguish it, saying:

"This ghost, Zhao You, was discovered by me, and I entrusted Tu Yu to imprison Him in that village because I needed time to explore and understand His specific rules, judge whether He was compatible with me, to what extent He was compatible, and what method to use to master Him."

Ghosts are not medicine and cannot be eaten indiscriminately. For a Gridder of Fen Wu's level, this level of small caution was the most basic operation.

"Later, Tu Yu told me that his blockade of He Village had some unexpected changes. Some mortals unfortunately strayed into He Village and entered Zhao You's cage."

"To be honest, I was arrogant at the time. I thought the worst-case scenario would be that a lucky person might accidentally crack Zhao You's rules and master Him, but I didn't expect..."

"It wasn't just those few mortals who strayed into He Village, but also a ghost."

One, a wandering ghost from outside.

"Presumably that must be 'Tai Yi', right?" Fen Wu smiled and looked at Ning Zhe. The wound on his forehead was seeping blood again; he had to wipe it again.

"If you think it is, then it is." Ning Zhe said noncommittally.

It wasn't strange that Fen Wu would know the name "Tai Yi." This guy had the ability to manipulate other people's memories; obtaining this level of superficial information was too simple for him.

As for Tai Yi's core rules and true abilities, Ning Zhe had never told anyone. Even Feng Feng Yushu, who had personally experienced the He Village incident with him, didn't understand the principles and process of him mastering Tai Yi. Lan Lan Shiwen had always felt his ability was "disguise" or "imitation."

"Then I'll take it as your default." Fen Wu smiled and lit another cigarette.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 340 =====