Release that Man

The chaos quickly quieted down. The people who got involved in the fight were all led to the underground casino’s office to settle the matter privately. Of course, no one there believed that this process would be peaceful. More likely, they would be taught a lesson, including being scared by the responsible party, paying for the casino’s losses, and so on. But considering the involved parties’ identities, the line probably would not be crossed, but to think that they would escape this unscathed, that was impossible.

“Why have we been brought here?” The woman cowered beside Ye Shuang. Her lowered voice was shaking, and her face was panicking. “We didn’t get involved in the fight!”

That was true, but the woman had accidentally been injured during the process, and that was why she and Ye Shuang were sitting there… or rather more precisely, it was because of her that Ye Shuang was able to mix into the crowd so naturally. It was not that Ye Shuang was not powerful enough to protect her, it was just that Ye Shuang needed an opening to start a negotiation. So, Ye Shuang basically did not do anything and allowed some stray punches to come her companion’s way. She could not avoid it, so she could only surrender to the bad luck. If she was lucky, then perhaps Ye Shuang might have done something else.

Ye Shuang smiled at the bodyguards who were shooting daggers at them and then lowered her head gently. “Don’t worry, I won’t let this rest until someone apologizes!”

Please don’t! I’d rather just leave this place and suffer this blow quietly!

Even though it was called an office, this underground space was not that much smaller than the casino. The open space had no trace of a cold, detached working environment; it looked more like a living room. Other than the lack of windows, other amenities like a television, air conditioning, and kitchenette were all there. There were even doors that probably led to a bedroom, study, and so on. Someone had been staying there for an extended time. The casino’s owner soon appeared from behind one of the doors. He was almost thirty. He scanned the guests that filled up the sofas. Even though he had heard the report from his people, he still had a troubled look on his face.

“The fun has gotten out of hand this time?” The owner came with two bodyguards. He took the seat on a single sofa and maintained a distance that was not too close nor too far from everyone else. “I hope you all know about my rules here.”

Things had to be settled. If there were no rules, there was no order. If this went unpunished—even though this did not look like it was done on purpose—and he allowed everyone to walk free, then it might just happen again. But this time, so many people were involved. From his memory, quite a few of them came from powerful backgrounds, and it might lead to more troubles if the punishment was too harsh. He could not go over the line, but he could not just let it be; this was indeed hard on the owner.

The owner used the pause to think about it. His eyes scanned the guests that were seated before him. “Rules can’t be broken, but I do not wish to make things difficult for everyone. How about all of you stay here for a few days to make up for the business that I’ve lost?”

Paying money was fine, but being detained was such an affront to the face. The young masters who spoke the loudest bounced up immediately.

“It’s true that we crossed the line this time, and we all know the rules here, but we can’t stay here for a few days. We all have our business to return to. Isn’t it too much for you to detain us like this?”

“That’s right. Staying is impossible. At most, we’ll pay you triple your losses!”

“Yeah, if I don’t return, my father will come get me tomorrow!”

“Don’t be like this!”

The group all agreed. The consensus was… paying money was fine. They could discuss the amount as long as they were not asked to stay back!

Against the wall of rejection, only Ye Shuang remained silent as she studied the few rooms in the living room silently. The room that the owner had walked out from appeared to be the study. When the door opened earlier, she had caught sight of a large surveillance screen and safes. That should not be a place suitable to keep someone hostage. The other locked rooms were not that far from each other. Based on the size, they should be resting rooms or bedrooms. The doors were made from normal wood, and the locks were spring locks. Sturdy, yes, but probably not enough to keep a master thief locked up. Minus the possibility of hidden doors and rooms, there was nowhere else that could be used to hide a person.

With the analysis done, and confirming that Su Zheng was not kept there, Ye Shuang instantly lost any interest in staying there. Her focus turned from the building to the owner himself.

The owner seemed to have expected that they would not concede easily. Without hurrying, he listened to all the protests, and when everyone was done and the voices died down, he coughed and added lightly, “Like I said earlier, if there are no rules, there’s no order. I cannot let people think that they can walk away from my place by paying money after creating trouble, right?”

“But we didn’t mean to…” Some still tried to struggle.

The owner interrupted him. “Furthermore, the stay won’t be unkind.”

He turned to signal at the rooms that Ye Shuang had been paying attention to earlier. “My place is quite spacious, and there is everything that you might need here. It shouldn’t be too hard to live here.”

Stay here? That’s even worse!  Ye Shuang pouted.

“How about this? Don’t say I didn’t give you all a chance,” the owner said confidently. He placed his arms on the armrest. The bodyguard took out an unopened deck of cards from his breast pocket, opened it, and handed it to his master.

The owner took his time to open the deck. He rolled up his sleeves, shuffled the deck twice without looking at anyone, and then leaned back and fanned the cards open on the coffee table. “Everyone should be given a fair chance. If you beat me, you can leave the casino.”

The group looked at each other.

Stop joking, we are amateur gamblers. How can you expect us to beat a casino owner? You might as well not have given us a chance!

Ye Shuang was silent for a while and then cleared her throat in the silence. After gaining everyone’s attention, she raised a harmless smile while plucking away the arm of the woman who had landed on her shoulder and stood up from the sofa. “Mind if I go first?”

The owner raised his brow as he studied Ye Shuang. “Please.”

There was no spare deck, and the situation was unfavorable for cheating. Ye Shuang scanned the cards on the table and realized that she had to rely on the most banal of means. “Can I shuffle the cards myself?”

The owner smiled, shrugged, and raised his hand in a ‘go ahead’ manner before leaning back to sit down on the sofa.