"One, two, three, small. Boss You, you've lost," Yuan Ming said with a grin, speaking slowly.
"How could..." You Zhuzha bent down, peering closely at the three dice, which clearly had the numbers "one," "two," and "three" imprinted on them, obviously finding it hard to believe.
"Boss You actually fumbled?" The previously boisterous scene also fell suddenly quiet, and the surrounding crowd was taken aback.
Old Smoke Bag, standing nearby, furrowed his brow in a look of surprise.
"You little..." Rage flickered in You Zhuzha's eyes as he gazed at Yuan Ming.
As he spoke, he grabbed the dice cup, wanting to slam it onto the ground.
Yuan Ming extended two fingers and gently pressed them on the dice cup. He exerted all his strength, only to astonishingly find that he couldn't budge the dice cup in the slightest.
"Boss You, the previous twelve silver coins were a sign of my sincerity. It would be impolite for you to keep winning," Yuan Ming said, bending slightly, in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Upon hearing this, You Zhuzha first froze, then imdiately realized he was up against a master.
Yet the others around them had not detected any abnormality and looked on with puzzled faces at the two n who were bending towards each other and muttering quietly.
"Little brother, see, I told you you'd win this round! Haha, I am You Zhuzha; my word is my bond," You Zhuzha released his grip on the dice cup, straightened up, and quickly put on a smiling face.
As he spoke, he picked up a silver coin and pushed it back towards Yuan Ming along with the one Yuan Ming had bet.
Yuan Ming stood up straight, his hand pinching the two silver coins, as he looked at You Zhuzha.
"When Wu Sang left, he said he was going to so temple about twenty or thirty miles outside of Iron Tiger Town. I didn't ask exactly what he was going for, and I can't guarantee he's still there now," You Zhuzha hastily said.
"Boss You is a smart man; your mory shouldn't be poor. Why not think harder—could there be anything you've omitted?" Yuan Ming revealed a sowhat mocking smile as he activated his Divine Power, fixing his gaze on him.
You Zhuzha suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, and the slight malicious thoughts he had been entertaining vanished instantly.
"Yes, yes, that's right, the temple is to the north of the town. Little brother, I rely on my skills to do business, not on flowery words," You Zhuzha said, trying to maintain his composure.
"Thank you for that. I wish Boss You prosperity in business; I shall co to seek your advice again when I'm free," Yuan Ming responded with a sudden warm smile.
You Zhuzha inwardly heaved a sigh of relief, repeatedly saying, "Definitely, definitely."
After speaking, Yuan Ming turned around, and under the watchful eyes of the gamblers, who were a bit confused by the situation, he walked out of the gambling house.
When had Boss You, who could easily lead people to ruin and debt, beco so agreeable?
Old Smoke Bag was dazed for a mont before casting an inquisitive look at You Zhuzha.
The latter, however, didn't glance at him at all, his gaze stiffly fixed on Yuan Ming's retreating back until it completely disappeared at the door. Only then did he truly relax, finding his back was drenched in cold sweat.
With a gloomy look, Old Smoke Bag rubbed his head with the stem of his pipe and quickly followed out.
Catching up with Yuan Ming in a few swift steps, he gave him a thumbs-up and praised, "Little brother, in all this ti, you are the first person I've seen win against Pork Grease using the dice; you're truly the one."
"I'm flattered by your praise," Yuan Ming replied with a smile, his response modest.
"If you ask , you should have taken advantage of your good luck and played a few more rounds. Regain what you've lost and maybe make several tis more!" Old Smoke Bag said with a look of regret on his face.
Yuan Ming turned his head to look at him without any expression on his face.
Old Smoke Bag was startled by his move, a vague sense of unease growing inside him, and didn't dare to continue his suggestion.
Yuan Ming knew very well that as soon as he entered the Mountain River Gambling House earlier, Old Smoke Bag had disappeared, likely gone to the back hall to discuss with You Zhuzha how to trap him at the gambling table so the two could collaborate to squeeze him dry.
Seeing now that he hadn't lost all his fortune, they still harbored the hope of ensnaring him again.
As for this, Yuan Ming couldn't be bothered. He also understood why Old Yan's inn was so desolate; it seed that Old Smoke Bag often engaged in bringing business to the gambling house and was so familiar with the affair that he even spoke the rules more eloquently than the dealers themselves.
The two of them walked back to the inn in silence, one following the other.
"Make sure to feed the horse enough fodder tonight; I will be leaving Iron Tiger Town first thing in the morning," Yuan Ming suddenly said, standing at the inn's entrance.
"You just got here; why leave so soon? Stay a bit longer..." Before Old Smoke Bag could finish his sentence, Yuan Ming, with his hands behind his back, had already crossed the lobby and headed towards the backyard.
Seeing this, Tu Lei stepped forward and asked, "Father, why have you co back so early?"
Old Smoke Bag pondered for a while with his head down, then turned and left the inn again, heading towards the Mountain River Gambling House.
He left his son standing there, scratching his head in confusion.
...
At night.
Yuan Ming sat crossed-legged in his room, cradling the incense burner in his hands. One after another, three ravens flew out from his forehead and headed out of the courtyard.
While cultivating the Moonlight Technique, he also practiced controlling the three ravens.
Now he could control the vision of the three ravens relatively freely, no longer experiencing the earlier sense of disconnection. The images of all three perspectives in his Sea of Consciousness had beco as easy to observe as looking at three scrolls.
Among them, two ravens one flying south and the other north, skimd away towards the two ends of Iron Tiger Town.
The last raven, flapping its wings, swooped out of his window and flew towards the inn's front courtyard.
In the courtyard, his horse was tied next to the trough, bowing its head to eat the fodder.
The withered yellow hay was mixed with bean cake, indeed using top-quality feed.
The raven circled silently above the horse's head once before flying towards the front yard, just clearing one row of houses when it spotted Old Smoke Bag leaning against the wall, sitting in the courtyard.
He was holding his tobacco pipe, with the tobacco inside spitting sparks, flashing bright and dark.
Opposite him, the dull young man was sitting on a small stool.
The raven glanced at them only for a mont before planning to fly away.
Just then, it suddenly heard the young man called Tu Lei below asking, "father, why have you been so preoccupied since you ca back from Mountain River Gambling House this afternoon?"
Hearing this, Yuan Ming wasn't in a hurry to leave anymore, and he controlled the raven to land on the branch next to the two.
Old Yan did not answer imdiately but continued to silently smoke a few puffs.
"father..." Tu Lei couldn't help but call out again.
"My son, it seems we might have stumbled upon trouble," Old Smoke Bag expelled the smoke from his mouth, took a long sigh, and said.
"What's the matter, father? What happened?" Tu Lei's face changed instantly upon hearing this, hastily scooting his stool a few inches closer to Old Smoke Bag.
"Do you rember, you once asked father how our family suddenly beca wealthy?" Old Smoke Bag asked.
"I rember, but you only said it was thanks to a noble, you never wanted to explain how," Tu Lei nodded, responding with naive honesty. Thi^s t ex-t. was a*c$q$ui@r&e-d fr@o-m$ *$.
"Sigh, today father will tell you how it happened." Old Smoke Bag sighed deeply again, tapped his pipe on the brick ground at his feet, and snuffed out the tobacco.
Tu Lei swallowed and listened attentively.
"Back then, father was a corpse collector nobody gave a second glance, life was always tough, until I ca across a corpse by the river..."
Old Smoke Bag began his story, narrating in a clear and structured manner.
Not only Tu Lei was engrossed, but even Yuan Ming stopped cultivating and listened through the raven.
As he listened, a strange and indistinct feeling arose in his heart.
When Old Smoke Bag finished explaining how he used the treasure on that young man's body to amass his current wealth, a complex expression surfaced on Tu Lei's dull face.
"father, did you know at the ti that he was still alive?" Tu Lei asked.
"Knew... does it make a difference if I knew? If I hadn't picked him up, he'd definitely be dead. Besides, fate has its own arrangents; maybe it was because I picked him up that he survived." Old Smoke Bag first nodded, then shook his head with a bitter smile.
After saying this, he added, "father did this also for you, for this family."
Yuan Ming heard this and secretly shook his head; wasn't that just a self-comforting excuse to ease one's conscience?
"I know." Tu Lei nodded repeatedly, showing agreent.
While he felt a bit of sympathy for that unfortunate soul, he still didn't think his father had done wrong.
"Not long after that... the man ca to town again, and I happened to bump into him. I discovered that the lord has posted a reward for finding him, so I reported it to the officials. It's a pity we couldn't find him later, or else I would have gotten a hefty reward from the Da Jin Mission," Old Smoke Bag continued, expressing regret.
"So it was him..." Yuan Ming suddenly rembered the blurred wanted poster on the city gate's notice board.
"Who is he, and why would the Da Jin Mission be looking for him?" Tu Lei wondered aloud.
"How would I know?" Old Smoke Bag shook his head and said.
Upon hearing this, Tu Lei felt that the man was truly unlucky to have encountered his father, yet he was very puzzled.
"father, what do all these things you've said have to do with you being so preoccupied all afternoon?" Tu Lei asked.
Old Smoke Bag glanced at him and shifted his gaze towards the back courtyard.
Yuan Ming, viewing through the raven, suddenly had a bad premonition because only he was staying in the entire back courtyard.
"That noble I ntioned is now staying in the back courtyard," Old Smoke Bag said slowly.
"What?" Tu Lei exclaid in shock, dropping to the ground with a thud.
"What are you yamring about?" Seeing this, Old Smoke Bag raised his pipe to knock on his head.
"Could he be here for revenge?" Tu Lei got back on the stool, lowered his voice subconsciously, and asked, pointing at the back courtyard.
"It shouldn't be, for so reason, he doesn't seem to recognize , looking like he's forgotten he's been to Iron Tiger Town before," as Old Smoke Bag said this, the wrinkles on his face deepened. (For the related story of Old Smoke Bag, see the prequel)
Reviews
All reviews (0)