Wu ng went to steal the Holy Fire Order upon hearing the prophecy, but where did the prophecy originate... Is this heresy not yet completely eradicated?
If so, where could it be located?
Chen Yi found his line of thought, closed his eyes, and swiftly recalled the geography records of the Southern Border he had seen before, especially... that treacherous area at the Sichuan and Yunnan border occupied by the Infinite King.
... That place with its towering mountains and dense forests, shrouded in miasma, had a fierce and tough populace; neither the court nor the Prince Mansion could dig in deeply. Chen Yi found it peculiar at the ti—the various arrays in the Underworld king city were far from ordinary thods, brimming with an inexplicable eerie and sinister vibe.
If the heresy of Ming’an Divine Sect, which Gongsun Guan eradicated—the sect of "light and darkness without boundaries, humans can represent Gods"—still had remnants, where would be their most ideal hiding place?
Only there could provide enough chaos and shelter; the Infinite King needed them to solidify his domain and maintain the array, while the heresy utilized the Infinite King’s protection to conceal their existence and operate in secret.
"Chen Yi?" Donggong Ruo Shu’s head suddenly "passed" through the door panel, looking curious, "What treasure are you looking at? All shiny and golden?"
Chen Yi was startled by this ghostly appearance and replied irritably, "Looking at maps! Don’t ss around!"
"A map?" Donggong Ruo Shu floated in completely, leaning by the table, staring at the golden paper for a long ti and muttered confusedly, "What does this say? It’s all curvy, doesn’t look like a map?"
"It’s scripture, even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand." Chen Yi stashed away the golden paper and the Holy Fire Order.
"Oh..." Donggong Ruo Shu pouted and floated away, "Boring."
The clues pointed to the territory of the Infinite King, Chen Yi’s eyes sharpened.
......
The Tea Horse Ancient Road, a thousand-year-old trade route soaked with the sweat of horse hooves and porters, since the Tang dynasty, tea leaves and salt from Sichuan and Yunnan have traveled this path to return with horses, furs, and dicinal herbs from Tibet.
The years had carved deep hoof prints into the stone slabs, nurturing the towns along the route; where there’s trade, there’s inevitably wine and gambling.
By the ancient road, there’s a small town called Xie Maping at the town’s end, resting against a rocky slope stands an inconspicuous two-story wooden building, with a faded "Wine" flag hanging at the entrance.
It’s dull during the day, but co evening, horsen, rchants with solo ventures, and even idle n from nearby villages gather. Downstairs is a bustling tavern, filled with sounds of dice gas, laughter, and cursing; upstairs, divided by thick curtains are several quiet rooms, filled with smoke, the crisp sound of dice hitting the bowl bottom intertwined with subdued shouts.
This is the only gambling den in town, and the most inford.
Chen Yi changed into unremarkable clothing, made so changes to his face, appearing weathered, and entered the tavern. He ordered the strongest corn liquor and sat in the corner, drinking solo, but his ears were like radar, catching idle talk around him.
Day after day, he was soaking here, sotis downstairs listening to gossip, more often he was upstairs, mingling in the gambling den.
He played by the rules, only betting on the simplest "big or small," his luck seed good, initially hitting small wins each day, and he would offer drinks to his table companions when he won, quickly becoming familiar with a few regulars.
Amidst the buzz of drink, he appeared deeply intoxicated, inadvertently leaking so complaints: "Ugh, this assignnt is really hard to tackle, superiors are pressing hard..." "This... tasks from Zige Bureau, aren’t all prestigious after all..."
The words "Zige Bureau," thrown like a stone into calm waters, hardly stirred the bustling gambling den, but a pair of sinister eyes in the corner locked onto him tightly.
In the following days, Chen Yi’s "luck" was incredibly astounding, betting big lands big, betting small lands small, his pile of chips grew into a small mountain, escalating the stakes, money seed no longer like money.
The fellow gamblers at his table were all congratulating him, saying he was riding the wave of luck, a gorgeously dressed Miao female croupier sent him frequent flirtatious glances. Chen Yi seed enthralled by this sudden fortune and beauty, increasing his bets.
And he began to borrow more, gambling too large, borrowing huge amounts.
As he won the most and felt triumphant, the fortune at the table suddenly reversed.
Three consecutive rounds opened small! He bet big, it opened small; bet big again, still small! It seed there was an invisible hand controlling the dice.
The chips before him receded swiftly like the tide, his face turned increasingly grim, beads of sweat forming on his brow, his eyes filled with resentnt and the gambler’s characteristic red tint.
During this ti, Donggong Ruo Shu softly reminded him several tis of the tricks involved, yet he was deaf to it, too blinded by gambling to heed such warnings.
Gritting his teeth, he pushed forward the last large chip along with his pouch from his waist: "All bet on big!"
The dice cup revealed, one, two, three! Small!
Like struck by lightning, he instantly turned ashen, collapsing dejectedly into his chair.
"Sir, bad luck with the hand, huh?" A weasel-faced housekeeper approached briskly, holding an abacus that crackled and popped, "Look at this account... principal and interest together, it’s one thousand two hundred taels."
His lips trembled, apparently wanting to argue but unable to speak, he struggled rummaging for a long ti inside his clothes, finally pulling out a heavy black waist badge, slamming it onto the table with a raspy voice: "I won’t run away from the debt... I’m with the Zige Bureau in the Prince Mansion! This badge... use it as collateral for the debt!"
The housekeeper took the badge, feeling its icy heavy weight in hand, the weapon insignia on the front exuded a chilling murderous aura, his expression changed slightly.
He tucked away the badge, grinning without humor: "Oh, turns out you’re an official from the Prince Mansion? Please forgive my discourtesy. However, about this gambling debt... quite a sum, I can’t make the decision. Sir, please wait a mont, allow to consult with our boss."
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