Hearing the fat chef's request, Shade frowned. He looked at the man who collected the money, who was called "Mr. Nit", and the latter shook his head:
"This is a matter between you two. The club won't stop him from leaving, but you have to convince Fat Jack."
"I have no money."
Xia pulled out the pockets on both sides of his coat. There was indeed nothing inside except a keychain and a notebook, because his money was in the inner pocket:
"I didn't expect that he could owe so much money."
Little Franklin had already stood up, lowered his head and stood beside Shade without saying a word. Although he was a bit of a jerk, he knew that he had to rely on this man who looked no older than him to leave.
"No money?"
The fat chef bent down angrily and picked up the four scattered Rhodes cards on the ground, showing the suits to Shade, which were Sun 1, Sun 8, Star 13 and Emperor.
The Emperor and Queen are independent cards outside of the four suits, somewhat similar to the Jokers in the Shad World, but they play a very interesting role in the Rhodes card game similar to "21 Points".
"Draw one from the four cards. If you draw the emperor, you take him away. If you don't draw the emperor, he leaves all his clothes and you leave your shirt."
Talking in a muffled voice, the fat chef began to shuffle the cards with his hands behind his back. Then, with his bloody teeth-marked hands, he took four cards with their backs facing forward and spread them out in a fan shape:
"Don't say I'm a bad person, he bit me."
He said angrily, motioning for Xia De to draw a card quickly.
Xia De blinked and reached out to stop little Franklin who wanted to reach out:
"If you're lucky enough, I won't have to redeem you here."
As he spoke, the life ring in his soul slowly turned, the soul urged the elements, and the elements affected reality. There were some barely noticeable red marks on his right eye, and the echo of blood made the bloodstains reflected in Shade's eyes.
The world in his eyes changed, and everything was covered with a strange halo. Even though Franklin had just sprayed a small amount of blood on the cards, and all of it was sprayed on the front, the "Blood Echo" spell still allowed Shade to see the faint red traces in the air and the different red mist luster around the four cards in the fat chef's hand.
He had just seen that the card "Emperor" had the highest blood content, so he almost immediately knew that the card he needed to draw was the second one on the left.
"Am I bullying you? You're just becoming a ring mage and you're doing this. This is not right."
He thought absentmindedly, examining his own morals and values.
Then he stretched out his finger and placed it on the rightmost card. His eyes did not look at the back of the card, but instead stared at the fat chef's face, who immediately tightened his face and tried not to show any expression.
Mr. Neate and little Franklin on the side were attracted by this scene.
“This one isn’t.”
Xia De said softly, placing his finger on the second photo from the right, staring at the chef's face for a few seconds:
“Neither is this one.”
He shook his head and this time he switched to the correct card. After several seconds, he slowly pulled it out in the face of the fat chef's suppressed surprise:
"This time it is."
The card was slowly turned over, and it was the "Emperor".
"This should be regarded as bullying ordinary people."
I also thought about it in my heart.
"Damn, I didn't realize you were such an experienced gambler."
The fat chef was surprised for a moment, then angrily threw the other three cards in his hand to the ground:
"Take this damned boy away. If he doesn't pay back the money next time, be careful not to let him fall into my hands."
A relieved smile appeared on the pale face of the accountant's son, and Shade nodded. He did not judge other people's behavior, but only knew that the echo of the cursed blood was indeed of great help to the detective career.
After giving Shad the receipt, the man wanted to escort Shad and the dejected little Franklin outside the club to prevent them from running around. But just as the three of them reached the second floor stairs and were about to go downstairs, they were stopped by someone.
She was a woman in her thirties dressed as a maid. She looked very ordinary but had a good temperament.
She came down the stairs from the third floor:
"The lady wants to see you."
She looked at Shad and gave him a slight nod.
"Is there anyone behind me?"
Xia De immediately looked behind him, but there was no one behind him:
"I?"
"Yes sir, please follow me. Your friend can wait for you on the first floor for now."
The woman said. Xia De didn't understand and looked at the man leading the way. The latter shrugged.
"There is only one distinguished guest on the third floor tonight. If it is that lady, you'd better follow her up. She is a very distinguished lady. As for him, I will help you keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get close to the gambling table."
As he spoke, he patted little Franklin's shoulders twice very hard. The latter was almost knocked down, but did not dare to object to Shad's departure.
"May I know who that lady is?"
Shad asked hesitantly, suspecting that someone like the club owner, or even Mr. Lawrence's "mistress" Mrs. Lazoya, had discovered him.
But he didn't understand why the other party was looking for him. The previous detective's only connection with this place was the last time he came to pick someone up. Apart from that, Xia De had no other social relationships that might be related to this club.
He was also thinking about the cat he had at home and wanted to go home as soon as possible to prevent the new cat from defecating on his bed or desk.
"That lady is a titled noble, and our most distinguished guest tonight. For her honor, you cannot know the lady's identity for the time being."
The maid-dressed woman spoke in standard Delarian common language. Shade nodded slightly, knowing that he could not refuse:
"So what is it that you are looking for me for? Sorry, I don't seem to know anyone of such a distinguished status."
"plz follow me."
The woman leading the way turned and walked upstairs. Xia De hesitated for a moment and followed her.
Compared to the relatively quiet second floor, the third floor was absolutely quiet. Judging from the decoration, if Xia De hadn't walked downstairs, he would have believed that this was a floor of the art gallery.
He followed the maid, looking at the paintings on both sides of the wall while walking along the carpet in the corridor. He stopped in front of a golden double door. The maid helped to push the door on the left open enough for Shade to enter:
"The lady is waiting for you inside."
Xia De nodded again and waited for a second. Before the woman's voice in his head prompted the "element" to appear, he entered the room.
The maid closed the door from the outside. Xia De turned his back to the door and looked at the empty reception room.
The layout of the rooms here is very similar to the doctor's reception room and treatment room.
The bookshelf takes up an entire wall, and the floor of the room is covered with carpet. The desk, coffee table, sofa combination, and closet are all made of brown wood, which looks very business-like.
It’s just that the brass metal box on the coffee table is eye-catching. It looks like a so-called gear mechanism box, which requires rotating the six large and small gears on the surface into a specific arrangement order before it can be opened.
The steam pipes and gas pipes on the walls blend well with the paint color of the walls. There are two gas lamps in the shape of angels blowing trumpets on the surrounding walls. The warm yellow light is not brighter than the crystal chandelier hanging from the top of the head.
The three windows on the wall opposite the door were covered with thick reddish-brown embroidered fabric curtains, but Xia De did not consider the possibility that someone was hiding behind the curtains.
It was so quiet that Xia De felt creepy. Someone was watching him, but definitely not in this room.