123: How did my tavern become like this?

You wait here for a bit; I’ll be right back.”

Seeing that many NPCs were still hesitant, Cheng Zhen decided to take a break to recover his mana, and also to check on how the others were doing.

Bang!

He had barely taken two steps in another direction when he heard a gunshot.

This time, the onlookers didn't burst into laughter. Instead, a chorus of curses erupted.

“What kind of joke is this?!”

“Aren’t you going to do something about this guy? He’s fired so many shots and hasn’t died yet. What’s the point of playing?”

“How can we? We’ve given him five or six different guns, and it’s still the same. And all the guns we’ve swapped out have had their trajectories skewed to the left! If this keeps up, all the guns in the entire tavern will be off-target!”

Looking at the body being carried out, the onlookers were utterly speechless.

“Damn, first time I’ve seen the shooter not die, but the bystander got killed instead…”

As they spoke, they backed away a considerable distance, fearing they might also be unjustly killed by a stray bullet.

Cheng Zhen: 6

“What, you want a round with me too?”

The strategist with the skewed trajectory glanced at Cheng Zhen approaching, a mocking smile on his face.

“I’m planning to see how many chips you’ve accumulated,” Cheng Zhen replied with utmost honesty.

The strategist hadn't expected anyone to walk right up to him to scout, and while speechless, he reached out to try and cover the coins in front of him.

Cheng Zhen sighed, “What’s the use of blocking it? The NPC’s 30 coins are still on the table.”

Strategist: “…”

This guy didn’t swear, but why did it feel like his intelligence was being insulted?

“Heh, no matter how many coins, the outcome will be the same.”

The man didn’t continue to argue, just sneered, “We’ll face off sooner or later. Prepare your last words!”

After all, under these rules, he couldn't imagine how he could lose.

Cheng Zhen was noncommittal.

Did he really think he could rest easy just by dodging a few bullets?

He didn't believe that this guy, who had ruined so many guns and killed an NPC, would get away with it so easily.

Xiao Jiao’s enemy, Wei Si, wasn’t here either. Perhaps he was earning chips through other means.

Cheng Zhen decided to go check on Xiao Jiao and Wei Si again.

He remembered the direction Xiao Jiao had left in; it seemed to be a place with many people.

Cheng Zhen walked over, only to find that the people at a table there had a completely different vibe.

How to describe it…

They weren't jeering, nor were they fiercely shouting. It wasn't like a gathering of cheats with their backstabbing, but more like… village aunties gossiping at the village entrance.

“Don’t even say it, don’t even say it, I’ve long felt something was off with those two! One K.”

Seat 1 played a card while pointing at Table 4 and an NPC in the crowd.

“Hah, it’s just peeking at cards, what’s so off about that? Two K’s.”

Seat 2 calmly responded, discussing the cheaters' reactions as if stating the sky was blue.

Xiao Jiao in Seat 3 shook his head, “No, their relationship shouldn’t be that simple. I remember they were very close when they walked over! One K.”

Upon hearing what Xiao Jiao said, everyone’s gaze immediately darted back and forth between Seat 4 and the other person, much like a marmot in a melon field pondering which melon to eat first.

“Don’t talk nonsense, we just know each other! One Q… K!” Seat 4’s face flushed crimson.

“Know each other? The kind of knowing where you sleep together?” Table 1 didn’t believe it at all, shouting “Liar.”

The waiter reached out and flipped over a Q: “Sir, we respect your sexual orientation, but please take your shot first.”

Seat 4 gritted his teeth, shot himself, and then fell to the ground.

“No—” The big brother who had a not-so-simple relationship with Seat 4 also knelt down on the spot, tightly embracing the still-warm body, crying heartbrokenly as if in a TV drama.

He angrily pointed at Seat 1, shouting, “I will get my revenge, I will get my revenge!”

His pitiful appearance made even the onlookers’ eyes well up.

“So sad.” The henchman sighed with a heavy heart, “Then let’s send them to be reunited.”

He then shot the big brother.

The two went on their way together, carried out side-by-side.

Everyone sighed, “Ah, they were a pair of star-crossed lovers!”

Cheng Zhen, who witnessed the entire process: “…………”

Slap, slap.

He slapped himself twice, one on each cheek.

And seriously suspected he had been poisoned by eating mushrooms.

Otherwise, how could he be seeing such preposterous things?

“Hey, Guangzi Ge, you’re here?” Xiao Jiao waved enthusiastically, “Wait for me a bit, I’ll be done soon!”

In front of him, there were actually two silver chips.

Cheng Zhen looked like an old man on the subway staring at his phone: “Is this… your skill?”

A skill that could collectively lower the intelligence of NPCs?

The skill that had followed him in at the beginning had already surprised Cheng Zhen.

Now, these elaborate tricks had rendered Cheng Zhen speechless.

Usually, it was his skills that left others speechless.

This time, it was truly the other way around.

Xiao Jiao scratched his head sheepishly: “It’s nothing, this skill only has some effect on NPCs and can’t improve combat power. If Wei Si and his group attack, please protect me, Guangzi Ge!”

“…Alright.” Besides agreeing, Cheng Zhen really had nothing else to say.

Since Xiao Jiao’s chip-earning process was going very smoothly, he didn't need to worry anymore and quickly headed back in Buster’s direction.

He was even afraid that if he stayed there for another second, he would be infected with strange behavior.

Seeing Cheng Zhen return to his side, Buster, under the table, breathed a slight sigh of relief.

After some time, Buster finally managed to gather a group.

However, they were betting three silver chips. It seemed the other NPCs wanted to leave themselves an escape route and had hidden some chips.

Compared to watching this group endlessly shoot, Cheng Zhen indeed hoped they would pay triple the penalty, as he would get more chips that way.

But NPCs at the three-silver-chip level were clearly more cautious and careful, making it difficult to find any opportunities.

They saw that Buster’s card-peeking method was very suitable for preventing others from seeing his cards and also kept others from seeing his expression, so they immediately, as if discovering a new continent, also ducked under the table.

The waiter could only continue to woodenly deal cards to ghosts.

Boss William, who took a moment to come downstairs and look, also pinched his thigh like Cheng Zhen, wondering if he hadn't woken up yet.

One table where no one was visible but ghosts were playing cards.

One table where people were constantly shooting and killing onlookers.

One table where people were chatting animatedly like village aunties gossiping.

Boss William: Where has this brought me? Is this still my tavern?