Chapter 4

Chapter 3: Detection Demon Hunter Bug

Pain.

Unbearable pain.

It felt as if something was gnawing at his pain nerves!

Su Jing suddenly bent over, tightly covering his left eye with his hand. The damned little thing seemed to have entered his head, ignoring any physical barriers, and was probably modifying his nervous system...

His left eye was now pitch black, with various colored lights flashing. Su Jing clenched his fists so hard they almost bled. Suddenly, the pain disappeared, and his left eye's vision, which had been blurry for a moment, returned.

Enduring the lingering pain in his left eye, Su Jing opened his tear-filled eyes. His left eye seemed to have a life of its own, making subtle adjustments in magnification.

The small card representing the Demon Hunter Bug in his mind had disappeared, replaced by a new icon on Su Jing's own card.

[Detection Demon Hunter Bug Larva has been contracted. Currently hosted in the left eye. Available abilities: Night Vision (Passive), Remote Detection, Information Recording.]

Remote Detection...?

As Su Jing thought, the beetle wobbled out of his left eye. As it flew, it felt as if he had a third eye, providing another perspective. This feeling was quite magical, like watching two screens at the same time.

Su Jing tried to command the beetle to fly a bit further and found that the little thing could only fly about ten meters before the image became blurry. It might not be fully grown yet, Su Jing thought. He washed his throbbing left eye with mineral water. He wondered how this little thing would grow. Demon Hunter Bug, Demon Hunter Bug... surely it wouldn't need to eat demons, right?

While thinking about how to get ten million in seven days, Su Jing returned to the convenience store, bought today's newspaper, and quickly scanned it.

Halfway through, Su Jing frowned. He had an idea. With the help of the Demon Hunter Bug's abilities, getting ten million in seven days didn't seem so difficult...

"Auntie, do you know of any larger mahjong parlors nearby?"

The old lady with reading glasses looked at Su Jing impatiently. Considering he had at least patronized her store, she pointed the way without much enthusiasm.

Twenty minutes later, Su Jing, with five thousand yuan he had just withdrawn from the bank, stood at the entrance of "Bihai Mahjong Parlor."

The parlor occupied about three floors, and the building looked to be from after the year 2000. Inside, a bald middle-aged man was watching a TV drama at the counter. When he saw Su Jing enter, the man merely opened a registration book and gestured for Su Jing to pay.

It was autumn, and evening was approaching. The parlor was gradually filling with people. Su Jing, dressed as a student, was not particularly noticeable. The front desk even asked for his ID.

"Do you want to play in the hall or a private room? Are you here alone, or are friends joining later?"

"Is there... a place to play for money here?" Su Jing leaned in to ask.

"We are a legitimate mahjong parlor, no gambling," the front desk looked at Su Jing for a moment. "Young man, don't always think about gambling. Students should..."

At some point, Su Jing had placed a stack of money on the counter and smiled calmly. "I heard this place has money games. Third floor, right?"

"Tsk... Since you know... the entry fee is one thousand." The middle-aged man at the front desk took a small stack from the money, exactly ten hundred-yuan bills. "Next time, don't flash your money so openly. It's not safe. Xiao Wang, come here and watch the counter!"

The bald man stood up and led Su Jing upstairs. On the second floor, the middle-aged man said to Su Jing:

"Tonight, there are three tables in the private rooms. As a passerby, it's fine for you to join. But, young man, don't be too impulsive. Money is just a small matter, an external thing. Some of the people inside are from the underworld. Just play with the big brothers."

"Uh-huh." Su Jing nodded, recalling the Demon Hunter Bug.

How could he, an outsider, pretend to be an insider? Su Jing had controlled the Demon Hunter Bug to fly around the second and third floors of the parlor five minutes earlier, confirming that people were indeed gambling, before confidently walking in.

"Two tables are playing poker, and one is playing mahjong. What do you want to play?"

"Uh... mahjong."

"Later, just say you're my distant nephew. Got it? I'm surnamed Sun. Call me Boss Sun. You're called... Su Jing, right?"

Boss Sun explained the precautions to Su Jing and then led him to knock on the door of a private room on the left.

"Old Sun? Hey, no need to be so formal, come in quickly. You're being too distant."

A rough voice came from inside the room, and Boss Sun pushed the door open and walked in.

The room was spacious, with sofas around the edges and an automatic mahjong table in the center. A middle-aged man was sitting on one side, a burly man by the window, and a well-built man with wire-rimmed glasses opposite him. Two young men were between them.

"Brother Xu, Chief Chen, having fun?" Boss Sun walked in with a smile, pulling Su Jing to his side. "This is my distant nephew, Xiao Su. He wants to play a few rounds. Is that okay?"

"Hey, this young man is quite handsome, not at all like your relative. Don't be shy, we're all family. Sit down and play a few rounds..." The burly man took the cigarette offered by Boss Sun, and one of the young men stood up to light it for him, then moved away from his seat.

Su Jing smiled modestly and took the young man's place.

Boss Sun and the young man left, and the mahjong machine started shuffling the tiles, then dealt them out.

"Young man, have you played local mahjong before? We play by points. A win is five hundred yuan per point. How about that? No eating, only matching. If you win by a discard, the discarding player pays. If you win by self-draw, the cost is split three ways—"

The burly man on Su Jing's left side kept explaining the rules, while "Chief Chen" on his right remained silent, focusing on drawing tiles and occasionally glancing at Su Jing.

After eight rounds, Su Jing pushed his tiles forward.

"Self-draw, clean hand, mixed one suit."

"Nice hand, young man." The burly man laughed and took out his money, extinguishing his cigarette in the ashtray.

In the second round, on the thirteenth round, Su Jing won again.

"Clean one suit."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha—Impressive, impressive!! Old Sun's nephew has such good luck!"

This time, even "Chief Chen," who had been silent, laughed and looked at Su Jing.

"Young man, I've never seen you before... What relation are you to Old Sun?"

"Distant relative. Very distant." Su Jing smiled falsely.

Chief Chen laughed and didn't ask further.

In the third round, on the fifteenth round, Su Jing won again.

"Pair of pairs, no terminal or honor tiles."

"Clean hand, self-draw, clean old man."

"Six, seven, eight ten-thousands, three consecutive sets."

...

By eight o'clock, the burly man surnamed Xu was no longer laughing, and Chief Chen's face was dark. Xu had lost over twenty thousand, and Chief Chen, who had been even more unlucky, had lost fifty thousand by hitting several big hands.

The cash they had brought was already piled up next to Su Jing, and they were now using IOUs as chips.

"Do you two want to continue?" Su Jing cracked his knuckles, looking innocent.

"Old Zhang, go, withdraw two hundred thousand from the card." The burly man surnamed Xu glared at Su Jing. "Boy, don't think you can win and run. We're not done tonight. I want to see how much more you can win."

"I happen to have a few hundred thousand to spare. Tonight, I'll play with you, Xu Jianfeng." Chief Chen's face was pale, but he couldn't back down after Xu's challenge.

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment and went downstairs to withdraw money.

When Xu Jianfeng lost another three thousand, Boss Sun came up.

"Oh... This... How to say it, my nephew..." Boss Sun was sweating, already regretting bringing this unknown young man up.

"Boss Sun, your nephew is quite skilled." Chief Chen smiled, but his tone was chilling. "Old Sun, if you have any issues with us, just say it. What's the meaning of sending someone to win our money? Huh?"

"How could I? I wouldn't offend anyone, let alone you two... How about this, Xiao Su, stop, don't mess around! Brother Xu, Chief Chen, I'll cover your losses tonight, I'll cover them all!!"

"No, Old Sun, don't." Xu Jianfeng waved his hand. "I'm not worried about a few ten thousand. This boy is a master, I can tell. He doesn't even know you, just a lone wolf. I want to see how good he really is tonight."

Su Jing's identity was exposed, but his expression didn't change.

Skill? I'm using the Demon Hunter Bug to see your tiles openly, do I need skill?

The silver beetle was perched on Xu Jianfeng's shoulder, transmitting the colors of the tiles in front of him to Su Jing's mind.

If the Demon Hunter Bug could see through tiles, that would be even better... Su Jing thought, holding a bamboo tile. That way, he could see all the tiles in the wall, and the entire game would be in his control...

"Win. Nine Gates."

Old Zhang returned and sat next to Su Jing, carefully observing his movements. Su Jing didn't mind him signaling Xu Jianfeng, just covering his tiles and feeling them with his fingers. Su Jing's actions were so obvious that Old Zhang felt a bit embarrassed and moved away.

At eleven o'clock, Xu Jianfeng proposed raising the stakes. The stakes had already increased to three thousand per point.

At twelve forty, Chief Chen quit the game. The fifteen thousand he had withdrawn was already piled up in front of Su Jing, and Boss Sun took his place.

At two thirty in the morning, Xu Jianfeng called Old Zhang to withdraw another fifty thousand.

Seeing Xu Jianfeng's bloodshot eyes, Old Zhang wanted to say something but obediently kept quiet.

When Old Zhang returned, the stakes were raised to ten thousand per point.

Two people from the parlor were now standing at the door to prevent Su Jing from escaping with the money.

At four o'clock in the morning.

Xu Jianfeng pushed his tiles forward and looked at Su Jing coldly.

"Boy, how did you cheat?"