Chapter 629: The Visitor

With a crisp "click" sound, the spring drove the firing pin to tremble slightly, pushing Xiao Cheng's Dao straight out.

Xiao Cheng had a bad feeling about it; he sensed that this Dao was heading in a direction that was too straight.

If it continued like this, it would enter the hole in the third row first, which was the "Shuang Bei Bu Zu."

But thinking it over, even if it was "Shuang Bei," it wouldn't be a total loss overall. If they could score an early win here, it would be great news for the team.

After traveling about a meter, the Dao suddenly started to veer off course, quickly deviating from its path. Just as it was about to reach the third row, it passed exactly between the middle and left-side holes.

Xiao Cheng stared wide-eyed at the scene. As long as it reached the second row or the first row, the rewards would multiply.

What Xiao Cheng never expected was that, despite the flat table and the straight launch of the Dao, it traced an odd arc on the smooth surface.

Instead of stopping in the second row, it headed straight for the "Ba Bei Da Jiang Jun" hole in the third row after a few seconds.

Though the situation was unexpected, it still seemed to be developing in a positive way.

At that moment, a fleeting thought crossed Xiao Cheng's mind. They say first-time gamblers often have incredible luck, so was it possible he could really trade one Dao for eight?

That would mean their trio's chips would go from nine Dao to sixteen. If Tian Tian and Zheng Ying Xiong could earn a little less, they might just gather enough for the life-saving money.

This naive idea lingered for less than a second before the Dao approached the "Ba Bei Da Jiang Jun" in the first row.

It seemed the table's spring mechanism was designed to make all Dao gradually lose momentum as they neared the "Ba Bei Da Jiang Jun." Moreover, since the spring and firing pin were triggered by a button, participants couldn't control the force to influence the Dao's distance—they had to let it roll on its own.

As the Dao got closer to the "Ba Bei," its speed slowed down more and more, eventually seeming to be drawn in as it rolled slowly toward the hole.

Xiao Cheng's heart was in his throat; he stared intently with wide eyes, gripping the edge of the table tightly.

The Dao slowed as it approached the "Ba Bei," but it was slightly off course. It slid past the top of the hole and rolled toward the right edge of the table, nearly going out of bounds.

"Ah, it's bad..."

Xiao Cheng's earlier excitement plummeted; his emotions swung with the tiny ball, as if that Dao represented all his hopes.

Just as the Dao was about to exit from the right edge, it inexplicably slowed again, then reversed direction and headed back toward the "Ba Bei."

What Xiao Cheng could never have anticipated was that this Dao, which had started in a straight line, began circling around the "Ba Bei" after a few seconds of movement.

Unfortunately, the hole for the "Ba Bei" was too small. The Dao circled from the left side to the right, then back from the right to the left, going around the opening endlessly.

Though its speed was slowing, there was no sign it would go in.

Xiao Cheng's emotions rose and fell with the ball's motion. From a physics perspective, without any external interference, the ball circling the hole had a high probability of eventually going in.

But this game never seemed to unfold as Xiao Cheng expected.

After the Dao circled the hole seven or eight times, its speed finally dwindled, and it came to a stop beside the small hole for a few seconds. Just as Xiao Cheng thought it wouldn't move anymore, it started to accelerate slowly toward the edge.

In the end, it predictably left the table and fell into the grooves on either side, joining the many fallen "Chong Zhen Zhe."

Xiao Cheng's emotions had surged and plummeted in a short time, and the sudden failure left him feeling empty.

It felt like it had barely begun before it was all over. He had only pressed the button with one Dao, yet it seemed like he had endured a thrilling gamble.

It had been so close.

That Dao was closer to the "Ba Bei Da Jiang Jun" than a single step away.

Perhaps just a centimeter's difference turned the eight-Dao reward into a total loss.

"No... the gap is even smaller than that..." Xiao Cheng shook his head, then pulled out his second Dao from his pocket. "Maybe just a few millimeters..."

He felt that this game setup should be easier to win rewards than others. At least the spring and firing pin weren't rigged, and the Dao launched straight, but because the Dao wasn't a perfect sphere and had some elasticity, it might slightly alter its direction during movement.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Cheng decided that instead of going to other game machines to learn anew, he should try to win back his stake here.

As he was about to drop his second Dao in, a cheeky voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"This gambler."

The person called out, "You say, why are the scattered Dao only in the grooves on both sides and not stopping on the table?"

"What...?"

Xiao Cheng had been so absorbed in the game that he hadn't noticed two onlookers standing behind him.

The speaker had a handsome face but a roguish air; he looked like he hadn't slept well, scratching his messy hair with swollen eyes.

Once Xiao Cheng snapped back to reality, he quickly pondered the man's words and found they made sense.

Why weren't the scattered Dao on the table?

The grooves on both sides were full of "failures," so logically, the Dao should be scattered everywhere, even possibly stopping on the table surface. But why not a single one?

Xiao Cheng frowned, slowly squatted down, and examined the table from a level angle. Soon, he spotted the trick.

The table wasn't flat at all; its cross-section was almost like an "M" shape.

All the holes were subtly raised in a way that was hard to notice. The slope was so gentle, and the lighting so dim, that it was nearly impossible to see the table's deceptive design.

That's why his Dao had kept winding across the table, even circling the "Ba Bei Da Jiang Jun" without going in.

Xiao Cheng felt a wave of relief; if not for this person's comment, he might have thrown his remaining three Dao into this game.

He turned to look at the man and then at the other person behind him, wanting to say something in thanks. But these two didn't look like upstanding types at all.

One had a smug, disdainful expression, while the other had tattooed arms covered in scars, clearly someone not to mess with.