Chapter 614: Strange Monkey

Qiao Jiajin immediately furrowed his brows and looked towards the direction of the sound.

The voice sounded like a group of people cheering.

"Finally, we've found it without any effort," Chen Junnan said, stuffing the map into his pocket and glancing that way. "Even though we're tired today, we should still go check it out."

"No problem," Qiao Jiajin replied. "This is a good chance to see what kind of game these Di Hou are playing. If it's not too difficult, I'll lend you a hand."

The two looked around and confirmed that no one else was nearby before heading towards the hutong.

Strangely, there were no Sheng Xiao inside the hutong, only an old wooden door that opened inward.

On the wall beside the door, a bunch of words were written in red paint.

The first line that caught the eye was "Welcome."

Next was "Open from sunrise to sunset."

The last line read "Harmony and prosperity, enter and bring wealth."

"Damn..." Qiao Jiajin felt a bit odd. "This kind of sign, why does it seem familiar to me?"

"What, have you worked at a gambling den before?" Chen Junnan asked casually, peering inside the door.

"No, Junnan," Qiao Jiajin said, pointing to the last line. "I just feel like I've seen this phrase somewhere before..."

The two fell silent after that. Chen Junnan stepped inside and found another door curtain. He reached out to pull it aside, and a thick wave of smoke wafted out.

The chatter of a large group of people instantly reached their ears.

"Oh my god..." Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin exchanged glances, sensing that something was off. This didn't seem like a Di Ji game at all.

The two cautiously entered, passing through a narrow, smoke-filled corridor, and suddenly the view opened up.

In a massive room, tables were scattered haphazardly, some covered with dice, others piled with cards and Mahjong tiles, though all the tables were empty at the moment.

In the center of the room stood a large round table, where about ten men were gathered, watching something intently.

They were chatting and laughing, cigarettes in hand, looking carefree and at ease, which clashed completely with the circumstances of Zhong Yan Zhi Di.

Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin exchanged another glance and slowly approached.

At that moment, Qiao Jiajin finally remembered where he had seen that phrase before.

It was on those Du Dang in the streets.

Harmony and prosperity, enter and bring wealth.

The phrase seemed directed at all the gamblers, but it was also the heartfelt wish of the casino bosses.

They first hoped no one would cause trouble, and second, that everyone who entered would bring them money.

The two reached the group and peered at the round table. The dozen or so men around it glanced at them without surprise and quickly turned their attention back to the table.

Three people were seated at the table. Two of them were sweating profusely, while across from them sat a wrinkled-faced Di Hou.

The Di Hou was short and stocky, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking both lazy and disdainful.

His hand rested on the dice cup in front of him, and he eyed the two men on either side.

The other two also had their hands protectively over their dice cups, appearing tense.

Several dozen Dao were laid out on the table for each of them, indicating a high-stakes game.

"It's my turn first," the Di Hou said in a hoarse voice.

The two men reached out and opened their dice cups, carefully peeking inside.

The Di Hou thought for a moment, opened his own dice cup for a quick look, and then said, "Six fours."

Qiao Jiajin slowly furrowed his brows upon hearing this. He felt that everyone here seemed oddly familiar to him.

Gambling, the thing that had once ruined his life.

He had entered casinos countless times and tried to persuade gambling addicts to stop, but gamblers always believed the next round would win back their losses, only to end up losing more miserably each time.

"What's this game?" Chen Junnan asked, puzzled.

"It's called Chui Shui—you might know it as Chui Niu," Qiao Jiajin explained. "Each person has five dice, and you take turns guessing the total number of a specific face among all the dice. For example, 'six fours' means that across everyone's dice, there are six fours. If you believe the previous player's guess, you can raise it; if not, you can call Di—or 'open.' Everyone reveals their dice, and if the total matches or exceeds the guess, you lose; otherwise, the previous player loses. Also, a 'one' can represent any number, like a wild card."

"You old fox..." Chen Junnan playfully punched Qiao Jiajin's chest. "You look so honest, but you know all this? Are you some kind of gambling god?"

"It's a common dice game, but I've never seen it used for actual gambling before," Qiao Jiajin said, shaking his head. "I don't gamble myself, but I've been in plenty of casinos and even helped run one, so I picked up a few things."

Chen Junnan nodded, and now that he understood the rules, he watched the three at the table. The Di Hou had made his call, and it was now the next middle-aged man's turn. The atmosphere was tense.

"Seven... seven fours..." the middle-aged man said.

After he spoke, neither of the others called "open," and he let out a sigh of relief.

The third young man quickly covered his dice cup with both hands, opened it for a peek, and hesitated, mumbling, "Seven fours...?"

Chen Junnan happened to be standing behind the young man and caught a glimpse of his dice: two twos, two threes, and one one.

These dice seemed custom-made, with numbers written in Chinese characters like "one, two, three."

The young man had no fours in his hand, only a one, which, as Qiao Jiajin had said, could count as any number—including a four.

He looked extremely conflicted. His opponent had called "seven fours," so he needed to go higher, like "eight fours" or "seven fives," but either option carried huge risks.

After all, no one had mentioned fives yet, so they probably had few or none, making fours the safer bet.

But could the three of them really have eight fours in total?

Chen Junnan crossed his arms, thinking that this dice game was different from simple "guess the size"—it was more about psychological warfare.

Still, it was strange...

Was playing dice really the Di Hou's game?

The young man pondered for a long time, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and finally said, "Eight... eight fours."

The Di Hou smirked, turned to him, and said, "Open."